Training & Education
US destroyer Donald Cook resumes European patrol
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) departed Naval Station Rota, Spain resuming it’s eighth forward-deployed naval forces (FDNF) patrol in the US 6th Fleet area of operations, January 12. Donald Cook was in Naval Station Rota for a training and maintenance
Royal Navy sending another ship on Asia-Pacific deployment
The Royal Navy will deploy Type 23 frigate HMS Montrose to Japan later this year, where the ship will contribute to the enforcement of UN sanctions on North Korea. Montrose will be the fourth British warship to visit Japan and operate in the region in the past 12 months. Fellow Plymouth-based frigat
SIMBAD-RC-launched Mistral missile defeats fast boats in latest test
French missile systems specialist MBDA announced they tested the Mistral missile against fast boats such as fast inshore attack craft in a demonstration in front of a number of foreign delegations. The firing was performed from a SIMBAD-RC automated naval turret firing from the land against a fast m
US, Greek marines kick off exercise Alexander the Great
Approximately 300 US Marines and an equal number Greek military personnel have arrived in the port city of Volos, Greece, to start exercise Alexander the Great 2019. ATG19 is a bi-lateral security cooperation training exercise involving primarily Hellenic Marines from the 32nd Marine Brigade and US
Russia developing improved, longer-range Kalibr cruise missile
Russian Navy ships and submarines are poised to be equipped with a new and improved Kalibr cruise missile that is currently under development, according to a Tass report. The upgraded missile will have a range of over 4,500 km, twice that of the current 3M-54 Kalibr cruise missile (NATO codename SS-
Indian Navy escorts its first WFP vessel in Somalian waters
An Indian Navy frigate reached a milestone recently as it became the first Indian warship to escort a vessel of UN’s World Food Program. INS Sunayna completed the escort for the first time since counter-piracy deployments began in 2008, following an escort request by EU NAVFOR. A WFP dhow was transp
Dutch air-defense frigate HNLMS Evertsen becomes SNMG2 flagship
The Royal Netherlands Navy’s air defense and command frigate HNLMS Evertsen got underway from her homeport in Den Helder on January 5 to become the flagship of NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2 (SNMG 2). Evertsen will spend the next six months in the Mediterranean and Black Seas patrolling the region
USS Fort McHenry is the first US Navy ship to enter Black Sea since Kerch Strait incident
Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) entered the Black Sea on Sunday, becoming the first US Navy ship to do so since the Kerch Strait incident from November 2018 when Russia fired on, and seized, three Ukrainian Navy ships near the the Kerch Strait. USS Fort McHenry, with
USS Porter arrives in Aksaz, Turkey for port visit, exercises
US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) arrived in Aksaz, Turkey for a port visit on January 1. Following the port visit, the Arleigh Burke-class ship is scheduled to take part in a joint exercise with the Turkish Navy and Air Force in the Mediterranean Sea. Porter got underway from Spa
Russian Navy’s Admiral Essen returns from 300-day Mediterranean mission
The Russian Navy’s Black Sea frigate Admiral Essen (751) arrived in Sevastopol on December 26 after completing missions in the Mediterranean, the country’s defense ministry said. The crew of the frigate performed tasks as part of the country’s permanent formation in the Mediterranean Sea from August
Royal Navy joins US, Japan for inaugural trilateral Asia-Pacific exercise
Ships and submarines from the navies of Japan, the UK and US gathered in waters south of Japan for the first trilateral naval exercise on December 21 and 22. Focused on anti-submarine warfare, the exercise featured drills with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter destroyer JS Izumo (DDH 183)
Second submarine rescue system delivered to Indian Navy
UK-based underwater systems specialist JFD has delivered the second of two submarine rescue systems to the Indian Navy. The SRS is expected to arrive in India in January 2019. The delivery was announced by the company a week after the Indian Navy officially commissioned the first system in a ceremon
USNS Big Horn returns from European, Middle East deployment
US Military Sealift Command’s fleet replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn (T-AO 198) pulled into Naval Station Norfolk, Dec. 17, completing a 10-month deployment in the US Fifth Fleet and US Sixth Fleet area of responsibility. “Some of the missions USNS Big Horn undertook during this deployment included
German Navy frigate, tender wrap up NATO deployments
A German Navy frigate and a tender are set to return their homeports of Wilhelmshaven and Kiel on Friday, after concluding their NATO deployments. Tender Rhein is returning to Kiel after serving as flagship of the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2) for over five months. The ship’s