The Bold Monarch 2011 joint submarine rescue exercise finished on June 10 off Spain. Russia was represented by Black Sea Fleet (BSF) assets – rescue ship Epron, salvage tug Shakhter, mooring lighter KIL-158, and diesel submarine Alrosa. Throughout ten days the joint force practiced search-and-rescue
Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 8 and USS Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC 20) are providing guidance for Baltic nation mine counter measure (MCM) units practicing their craft during Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2011, through June 17. Lithuanian Navy Cmdr. Andris Sirvys, commander, Baltic Naval Squadron (BALTRON);
On the morning of 10 June, the EU NAVFOR German warship FGS Niedersachsen detected a suspected Pirate Action Group (PAG) whilst conducting a routine patrol in the Southern Somali Basin. The PAG, which is suspected of carrying out a number of attacks on merchant vessels in the area, consisted of a fi
Royal Navy personnel have joined 2,000 sailors from 13 nations for the world’s largest submarine rescue exercise, off the south-eastern tip of Spain. The ten days of NATO Exercise Bold Monarch witnessed an international effort to bring trapped submariners from four boats to the surface. The exercise
Second phase of the BALTOPS-2011 joint naval exercise is conducted in the Baltic Sea near Bornholm Island; Russian Navy is represented by Baltic Fleet (BF) large landing ship Minsk under command of Capt 2 rank Alexander Morgen. The active phase is to continue until June 16 in four regions of the Bal
A unique dismantling operation over Soviet cruiser Murmansk is conducted in Norway and will cost tens of millions euros. Gun turrets of the rusty ship lying on sea cliffs are still awe-inspiring, although the cruiser’s fate has been determined – dismantling and utilization, reports Komsomolskaya Pra
A historic international milestone was achieved when the Russian submarine, SSK Alrosa, mated with a U.S. submarine rescue system during exercise Bold Monarch 2011, June 7. The coupling of the U.S. Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System (SRDRS) and the Russian submarine established an inte
Black Sea Fleet (BSF) salvage tug Shakhter which took part in international submarine rescue exercise Bold Monarch-2011 near Spain left the exercise area and set a course for US naval base Norfolk. A new task is assigned to the ship; salvage tug Shakhter along with Northern Fleet large ASF ship Admi
On 7 June 2011, at the Damen yard in Galatz, the keel was laid down for the Joint Support Ship (JSS). The ceremony was performed by Rear Admiral K. Visser of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Further construction of the vessel will largely take place at Damen Shipyard Galatz, supervised by Damen Schelde N
Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61), arrived in Constanta for a scheduled three-day port visit as part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA), June 6. During the visit, U.S. and Romanian dignitaries were given the opportunity to learn about Monterey’s ballistic mis
Royal Navy minehunter HMS Bangor left for the Mediterranean yesterday to relieve HMS Brocklesby in supporting NATO forces off the coast of Libya to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973. HMS Bangor is one of seven Sandown Class minehunters, and is based at HM Naval Base Clyde in Fa
Phoenix Express 2011 (PE-11), a multi-national maritime exercise between U.S., North African and European naval forces, conducted the first day of at sea boarding exercises, June 7. Five ships got underway from Souda Bay, Greece, on June 6, joining one already at sea, bringing together six of the ei
In accordance with official data exchange under START-3 treaty, the US State Department published information on numbers of nuclear warheads available to the Russian Federation and the US, as well as amount of deployed and non-deployed carriers. According to the promulgated data, as of Feb 5, 2011 R
Fifteenth (first in 2011) test launch of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) Bulava for the first time will be carried out by its standard carrier – newest Project 955 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) Yury Dolgoruky, said official spokesman for Russian defense ministry Col.
