Italian aircraft carrier, ITS Cavour, currently flagship of the EUNAVFOR MED operation Sophia, on February 3 carried out cross training with the Norwegian Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessel Siem Pilot using one of its embarked helicopters. An Italian EH-101 helicopter took off from ITS Cavour testi
Royal Navy’s Type 45 frigate HMS Defender has visited the island nation of Sri Lanka on its return from the Arabian Gulf. The warship visited Colombo to take on stores and fuel and give the ship’s company a rest from their nine month deployment to the Gulf where they are conducting Air Command and C
HMS Defender’s embarked helicopter held training drills in the middle of the Indian Ocean as the destroyer made her way to the port of Visakhapatnam in India. The Portsmouth-based warship is one of two dozen vessels from the navies of the world attending the Indian International Fleet Review, which
Royal Navy’s River class offshore patrol vessel, HMS Mersey, has sailed from Florida, USA after completing her final preparations to start Counter Drug Operations in the Caribbean and Central America. The ship arrived in Key West, Florida after battling storms en route. Key West is home to the Joint
Even though the German Navy’s combat support ship EGV Berlin was more than 24 hours early, around 250 people gathered at the Naval Base Wilhemshaven to welcome the ship’s crew home. EGV Berlin was forced to sail into port earlier due to a strong hurricane warning, as locking in the harbor would have
HMS Ramsey, a Royal Navy minehunting vessel joined her NATO counterparts in Kiel January 21 to practise mine countermeasure operations. The Sandown-class minehunter, usually based in Faslane, arrived in Kiel after first sailing through the famous 98-kilometre Kiel-canal. It took the ship 9 hours to
Rolls Royce announced January 1 that the MT30 gas turbine they built for the Royal Navy’s new Type 26 Global Combat Ship completed the factory acceptance test. Rolls-Royce built the turbine under a contract to supply MT30 gas turbines for the first three Type 26 Global Combat Ships. The company has
Fighter jets aboard the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle have been conducting airstrikes against the Daesh positions in Syria since November 2015 while the carrier itself was positioned in the Persian Gulf. While the carrier is a powerful offensive ship it lacks armament to protect itsel
UK’s Aircraft Carrier Alliance has installed the first of just over 3,000 compartments on Britain’s new aircraft carrier. It was handed over for the crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth, ready to be loaded with equipment. With the 65,000-tonne ship due to sail later this year, and the ship’s company due to m
One German corvette and one Spanish frigate participated in a medical evacuation of a migrant previously saved in the Mediterranean Sea. On January 28, German frigate FGS Ludwigshafen am Rhein carried out her first rescue operation on her deployment with Operation Sophia. The frigate embarked a tota
Operation Sophia, the EU-mission in the Mediterranean, has been making headlines with migrant-rescue operations. The main goal of the mission, however, is to disrupt the networks of migrant smugglers. The German Navy says the Op Sophia is succeeding in this undertaking. The EU-operation entered the
British multinational defence company BAE Systems today, January 29, signed a contract with the Thai shipbuilding company Bangkok Dock to assist in the licensed construction of a second 90 metre Offshore Patrol Vessel for the Royal Thai Navy. Under the agreement, BAE Systems will provide engineering
Spanish Navy’s Santa Maria-class frigate, ESPS Victoria, conducted a series of exercises with Japanese Takanami-class destroyer, JDS Suzunami, to strengthen counter-piracy cooperation between the two forces. Meeting within close distance of the internationally recommended transit corridor in the Gul
The German Navy corvette FGS Erfurt rendezvoused with the Spanish Navy helicopter Toro 07 in The Gulf of Aden to conduct a rather uncommon exercise. The helicopter is regularly embarked on the Spanish frigate ESPS Victoria which is also deployed to the EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta at the Horn of Afr
