Dynamic Manta 2017, NATO’s annual anti-submarine warfare exercise, is set to start on Monday next week, off the coast of Sicily, Italy. The two-week drill will gather ships and sailors from ten allied countries for ASW training in the central Mediterranean. Submarines from France, Greece, Italy, Spa
Warships from NATO’s standing mine countermeasure group 2 (SNMCMG2) joined the underway portion of the Romanian-hosted exercise Poseidon that is taking place between March 5 and 13. The exercise as a whole is hosted by Romania this year and will include more than 1,500 sailors and 17 warships from s
U.S. Navy surveillance ship USNS Invincible (T-AGM-24) was forced to change direction in order to avoid a collision with an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boat on March 4. The surveillance ship was harassed by several Iranian boats as it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz together with t
The U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) kicked off the annual bilateral training exercise MultiSail 2017 on March 6, with ships getting underway from the Apra Harbor in Guam. Six U.S. Navy ships, two JMSDF ships and a number of subsurface and other special units will spend the ne
Royal Navy frigate HMS Iron Duke set sail for the first time this year having spent the winter in her home port undergoing a sustained period of maintenance. The Type 23 frigate, which spent the first half of 2016 on NATO duties in the Baltic and waters of northern Europe, is now headed for operatio
Polish Navy minehunter ORP Wigry joined German Navy mine countermeasure ships from the Kiel-based 3rd Minesweeping Squadron for mine countermeasure drills in the Baltic Sea. German units taking part in the exercise included minehunters Datteln and Sulzbach-Rosenberg, minesweeper Pegnitz and tender D
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri launched ‘Federico Martinengo’, the seventh Italian Navy FREM frigate, during a ceremony on March 4 at the Riva Trigoso shipyard in Genoa. Federico Martinengo is the seventh of overall ten vessels in the Carlo Bergamini-class Fincantieri is to build for the Italian Na
U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) arrived at White Beach, Okinawa, Japan, on March 4. During the port visit, the ship will embark Marines of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), along with their vehicles and cargo, prior to departing for a routine patrol. “We are go
Germany is considering leasing a Romanian Navy sail training ship to train its officer cadets as ‘Gorch Fock’, the German Navy’s training ship, is tied to port for extensive repairs. While the decision has not yet been made, German Navy Vice Admiral Rainer Brinkmann told reporters in Kiel that he ex
Warship deployed to two standing NATO maritime groups arrived in Plymouth on Friday for an informal port visit and an opportunity to take part in Royal Navy’s renowned Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST). Led by Norwegian Navy Commodore Ole Morten Sandquist, visiting ships from Standing NATO Maritime G
Republic of Korea Navy destroyer Choi Young officially joined operation Atalanta welcoming aboard the operation’s Force Commander, Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado Muñoz-Rojas during a joint counter-piracy patrol off the coast of Somalia. The Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyer joined EU NAV
U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin announced that it has branded its Dual Mode Plus laser-guided bomb (LGB) as Paragon. Paragon has been integrated on the F/A-18 while F-16 test flights are planned for the second quarter of 2017. In a U.S. Navy test from August 2016, the Dual Mode Plus demonstr
U.S. Navy’s amphibious transport dock ship USS Green Bay (LPD 20) and the embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) returned to operations in the South China Sea, March 2. Green Bay returned to sea after successfully completing exercise Cobra Gold 2017 (CG17) February 24, operating in the Gulf o
Royal Canadian Navy’s last Iroquois-class destroyer HMCS Athabaskan is set to be decommissioned at the Canadian Forces Base Halifax on March 10, after 44 years of service. The destroyer returned to her homeport on March 1 after completing the final underway of her career. During the underway, HMCS A
