Rolls Royce announced January 1 that the MT30 gas turbine they built for the Royal Navy’s new Type 26 Global Combat Ship completed the factory acceptance test. Rolls-Royce built the turbine under a contract to supply MT30 gas turbines for the first three Type 26 Global Combat Ships. The company has
Fighter jets aboard the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle have been conducting airstrikes against the Daesh positions in Syria since November 2015 while the carrier itself was positioned in the Persian Gulf. While the carrier is a powerful offensive ship it lacks armament to protect itsel
U.S. Navy Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures (EXMCM) Company 1 teamed up with British Second Mine Warfare Battle Staff (2MWBS) onboard RFA Cardigan Bay in the Arabian Gulf to complete the mine countermeasures squadron exercise (Squadex), January 23-25. Squadex is a mine countermeasures exercise desi
UK’s Aircraft Carrier Alliance has installed the first of just over 3,000 compartments on Britain’s new aircraft carrier. It was handed over for the crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth, ready to be loaded with equipment. With the 65,000-tonne ship due to sail later this year, and the ship’s company due to m
One German corvette and one Spanish frigate participated in a medical evacuation of a migrant previously saved in the Mediterranean Sea. On January 28, German frigate FGS Ludwigshafen am Rhein carried out her first rescue operation on her deployment with Operation Sophia. The frigate embarked a tota
Vard Marine, a Fincantieri company designing and building specialized vessels, announced Februaury 1 that it has been selected to design one Antarctic icebreaking vessel for the Chilean Navy. The company said the contract value was approximately four million Euros. Vard Marine has been awarded the c
Operation Sophia, the EU-mission in the Mediterranean, has been making headlines with migrant-rescue operations. The main goal of the mission, however, is to disrupt the networks of migrant smugglers. The German Navy says the Op Sophia is succeeding in this undertaking. The EU-operation entered the
British multinational defence company BAE Systems today, January 29, signed a contract with the Thai shipbuilding company Bangkok Dock to assist in the licensed construction of a second 90 metre Offshore Patrol Vessel for the Royal Thai Navy. Under the agreement, BAE Systems will provide engineering
Spanish Navy’s Santa Maria-class frigate, ESPS Victoria, conducted a series of exercises with Japanese Takanami-class destroyer, JDS Suzunami, to strengthen counter-piracy cooperation between the two forces. Meeting within close distance of the internationally recommended transit corridor in the Gul
The German Navy corvette FGS Erfurt rendezvoused with the Spanish Navy helicopter Toro 07 in The Gulf of Aden to conduct a rather uncommon exercise. The helicopter is regularly embarked on the Spanish frigate ESPS Victoria which is also deployed to the EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta at the Horn of Afr
Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer, HMS Diamond, has been the host of deck landing training during her first sail of 2016. The Navy’s next generation multi-role helicopter ‘Wildcat’ deck landing training was conducted throughout the day and into the night for a 2 week period in January. The aim was to s
The Royal Navy will fit new navigation radars to over 60 surface ships, submarines and shore facilities. UK’s Ministry of Defence awarded the £44 million equipment contract to Hampshire based Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems UK. Under the contract, the company will modernise ship and submarine nav
Spanish F100 class frigate ESPS Alvaro de Bazan (F101), the Royal Navy Type 23 Frigate HMS Iron Duke (F234) and the Spanish Fleet Replenishment Ship ESPS Cantabria (A15), vessels of the Standing NATO Maritime Group ONE (SNMG1), arrived in London, UK for a scheduled port visit. Under the command of S
Following a £50m refurbishment, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Fort Victoria left Birkenhead, UK for the Arabian Gulf in support of international coalition forces operating in the region. As an Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) ship, offering the capability of both stores and fleet tanker, Fort Vi
