Ships from NATO’s Standing Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) arrived in Poti, Georgia, on May 14 after concluding their participation in the Romanian-hosted Black Sea exercise Sea Shield 2018. During the four-day port call to Poti, the ships’ crews will join Georgian Border Police for drills aimed at incre
The UK defense secretary is set to announce a £2.5bn investment for new Royal Navy submarines during his visit to BAE Systems’ shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria on Monday. According to the UK defense ministry, the investment includes £1.5bn for the construction of the seventh Astute-class sub
After arriving from France to US early April, French Rafale jets have now joined the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) for a combined Chesapeake 2018 exercise. The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group (GHWBCSG) and French Carrier Air Wing (Groupe Aerien Embarque) departed Norfolk May 7
A multi-lateral anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise in the Norwegian Sea got underway May 9 as navy assets from five ally countries gathered in Bodo, Norway, for the pre-sail conference. The exercise is hosted by Norway and led by the US Navy. ASW forces from Canada, France, Norway, the United Kin
Turkish Navy minehunter TCG Anamur has discovered historical unexploded ordnance during mine countermeasures drills conducted as part of the Spanish-hosted multinational exercise MINEX 2018. According NATO Maritime Command, the ordnance was discovered by TCG Anamur on 8 May using the ship’s speciali
German Navy corvette FGS Braunschweig is scheduled to deploy to the Mediterranean Sea to represent the German contribution to operation UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon). The K130 corvette is set to depart its homeport in Warnemünde, Germany, on May 14, under the command of Frigate Ca
The Russian Navy is scheduled to commission its sixth Project 21631 corvette ‘Vyshny Volochyok’ by the end of this month, the Russian defense ministry announced on Tuesday. Vyshny Volochyok is part of the Buyan-M class of corvettes, an upgraded version of the three Project 21630 (Buyan) vessels whic
French defense technology company Thales announced it has started production works on the first Sea Fire radar for the French Navy’s FTI future medium-size frigates. The Sea Fire is fully solid-state multifunction radar with a four-panel phased array antenna. According to the company, it is designed
US Navy’s Spain-based Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) completed its sixth patrol in the US 6th Fleet area of operations, returning to its forward-deployed location at Naval Station Rota on May 7. Ross departed Rota Jan. 8, 2018, and in the course of its four-month patr
The first German Navy vessel to deploy in 2018 is returning home after concluding a five-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea as part of the EU-led operation Sophia. FGS Sachsen, the lead ship of the German Navy’s F124 air defense frigates, is set to return to her homeport in Wilhelmshaven on M
Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender returned to her homeport in Portsmouth concluding her first underway period after undergoing an 18-month refit. The ship put her systems and personnel to the test over the seven-day period following the major upkeep which saw two new gas turbines fitted alon
Russian Navy’s Project 11711 landing ship Ivan Gren has successfully completed sea trials, shipbuilder Yantar said in a statement. As informed, the seaborne part of the trials of the large amphibious assault ship Ivan Gren was completed on May 3. The newbuild was tested in the Baltic Sea. The trials
An autonomous minesweeper system that can safely clear sea lanes of mines has been handed over to the Royal Navy, UK Defence Minister Guto Bebb has announced. Following a period of successful trials, the demonstrator system could go on to be used by the navy in the future to defeat the threat of mod
Russian shipbuilder Pella has launched the Project 22800 second serial missile corvette Shkval. The launching ceremony took place at Pella’s new shipbuilding complex on May 5, 2018. With a length of 67 meters and a width of 11 meters, the fast attack craft was designed to combat operations in the ne
