The Italian Navy’s FREMM frigate ITS Carlo Margottini, in service since February 2014, recently achieved another first en route to her Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea deployment. Having sailed from her homeport in La Spezia on February 20, ITS Carlo Margottini transited the Suez Canal for the the first
US sailors and marines have concluded two months of cooperation with their French counterparts aboard the French Navy amphibious assault ship BPC Tonnerre. Approximately 150 US personnel spent the last two months working together with the French task group composed of BPC Tonnerre and Horizon-class
Turkish shipbuilder ARES has completed sea trials for the first of two 48-meter patrol boats designed and built for the Qatar Coast Guard. The vessels were designed by UK-based BMT who have partnered with ARES Shipyard (ARES) to design and build 17 patrol boats from advanced composites in 36 months,
A Russian Navy task group returning from their deployment as part of the country’s permanent Mediterranean task force entered the Atlantic Ocean en route to their Northern Fleet homeport. Ropucha-class landing ship Aleksandr Otrakovskiy, Vishnya-class intelligence ship Feodor Golovin and Altay-class
Ships and personnel from the navies of Oman, UK, France and US concluded the international exercise Khunjar Haad in the Gulf of Oman on February 8. Overall 11 vessels, including US Coast Guard ships, took part in the exercise. Khunjar Haad featured a variety of evolutions consisting of air-defense,
The US Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper (DDG 70) returned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on February 9 after four months of operations in the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf. Hopper operated in the US 7th and 5th Fleets, Hopper supporting ballistic missile defense and promoting securit
US Navy’s amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) got underway from Naval Station Mayport, Florida, on February 7 to lead a three-ship group on a deployment to Europe and Middle East. With more than 2,500 sailors and marines aboard, USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) will spend the next six months as the lea
Construction of a new class of Israeli Navy corvettes started in Germany on February 7, with a steel-cutting ceremony at the Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems shipyard in Kiel. The high profile ceremony was attended by the head of the Israeli Navy, Admiral Eli Sharvit, and German Navy inspector Vice-admir
Pakistan Navy frigate PNS Aslat seized 5 tonnes of hashish in the Arabian Sea on February 6, continuing a success-streak of the international Combined Task Force (CTF) 150. With this latest seizure, CTF 150 has confiscated over $1 billion USD of narcotics since December 2017. PNS Aslat was conductin
Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Warramunga carried out another successful drug interdiction operation on February 1, bringing the total value of drugs seized by the crew since November 2017 to over AU$1 billion. The latest operation took place in the Western Indian Ocean and resulted in the seizu
French Navy air-defense frigate FS Chevalier Paul has concluded three weeks of counter-Daesh operations in the Persian Gulf with the US carrier strike group centered around aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. During her time with the carrier strike group, Chevalier Paul provided air defense for
Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Cardigan Bay hosted personnel from the US and Royal Navy for exercise Azraq Serpent 18 (AS18). The five-day exercise started January 14 and was aimed at developing interoperability between the two partners across the medical domain in the US 5th fleet area of operations. T
After concluding operations with the Royal Australian Navy, Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Fort Rosalie switched to supporting the US Navy’s Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group. As Fort Rosalie joined the US task group in the Persian Gulf, RFA Fort Rosalie personnel were welcomed aboard their Americ
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) welcomed the commander of the Royal Bahrain Naval Force while underway in the Persian Gulf on January 16. Commodore Mohammed Yousif Al Asam and members of the Royal Bahrain Naval Force visited the ship while the Bahrain Navy frigate RBNS Sabha
