European naval units on Saturday apprehended three persons off the coast of Libya suspected of organizing migrant crossings in the Mediterranean Sea. In an Operation Sophia action which took place in the morning hours of July 9, German tender Werra was assisted by Italian Navy ship Borsini and other
The British Ministry of Defence has confirmed that it signed a deal to purchase nine P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Boeing’s P-8A MPA are being purchased from the US Government via a Foreign Military Sale. According to the MoD, the cost of developing and
Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship RFA Cardigan Bay has returned from her Arabian Gulf deployment which kept the ship away from home for four years and two months. The ship supported mine warfare operations in the Middle East – not just by the Royal Navy’s four minehunters in the region, but by US counterpa
Britain has announced that it would send an offshore patrol vessel to the Aegean Sea where NATO vessels are already engaged in gathering intelligence and patrol the waters between Greece and Turkey with the aim of preventing migration and smuggling. During the NATO summit in Warsaw Defence Secretary
Polish frigate ORP General Tadeusz Kosciuszko joined Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) on July 7. The former U.S. Navy Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, one of two in the Polish Navy, will spend the next few months under NATO flag providing support to NATO maritime activities. ORP General Tade
The UK Ministry of Defence has invited potential suppliers of the Military Afloat Reach & Sustainability (MARS) Fleet Solid Support (FSS) capability to attend the FSS industry day later this month. The 2015 UK Strategic Defence & Security Review (SDSR) confirmed the need for MARS Fleet Solid Support
The European Parliament has backed the European Commission proposal to establish a European border and Coast Guard with the aim of protecting Europe’s external borders. “We welcome the endorsement of the proposal for a European Border and Coast Guard by the European Parliament today. If we want to m
Two new members of the Operation Sophia taskforce, German Navy ships Datteln und Werra, saved 701 migrants from the Mediterranean Sea on July 5. German Navy minehunter Datteln was the first to spot migrants 100 kilometers northwest of the Libyan capital Tripoli. Moments later, the tender Werra spott
Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender is set to return home to Portsmouth on July 8 following her nine-month deployment to the Middle East where the ship worked with American and French Carrier strike groups as part of on-going operations against Daesh in Iraq and Syria. During her 263 days aw
U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) transited the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Atlantic Ocean on July 2. The ship entered the 6th Fleet area of operations in December 2015 to support maritime security operations and theater security efforts in Europe and Afr
Russia is poised to send its sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, to the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea where the ship will take part in delivering airstrikes against ISIS strongholds in Syria. Admiral Kuznetsov is expected to head to the Mediterranean once it completes shipbuilders’
A submarine hunting helicopter from Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose has been supporting mine warfare training in the English Channel. The airborne anti-submarine Merlin from 824 Naval Air Squadron teamed up with its surface counter-part for a series exercises to familiarise HMS Hurworth, a Hunt-cla
Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Fredericton returned home in Halifax on July 5, following a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean and Black Seas on Operation Reassurance. The ship departed Halifax on January 5, 2016, and began Operation Reassuranceduties on January 8, 2016. It served with Sta
Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate HMS Iron Duke is set to return home on July 7 from a six-month deployment working with a multi-national NATO task group in Northern Europe. The Portsmouth-based ship clocked up more than 22,500 nautical miles, in her 180 days away, working alongside NATO allies as part o
