Finnish Minister of Defence, Jussi Niinistö, has authorized the nation’s Defence Forces to start the Finnish Navy project, Squadron 2020. The aim of the project is to construct four new corvette-size fighting ships for year-round operation in the special weather and ice conditions at the Baltic Sea.
German Navy frigate FGS Hamburg entered her homeport in Wilhelmshaven, Germany on December 20 thereby concluding her duty as flagship of the Standing NATO Maritime Group (SNMG2) during the second half of 2015. On June 25, Rear Admiral Jörg Klein (German Navy) assumed command of SNMG2 in Kiel, German
The Royal Navy’s auxiliary ship RFA Lyme Bay has returned home after patrolling the Atlantic, visiting 16 nations, helping with two disaster relief operations, and making a $53million cocaine bust. RFA Lyme Bay sailed into Falmouth, England at the weekend having completed a six-month patrol of the N
The Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri launched ‘Luigi Rizzo’, the sixth of overall ten Multi Mission European Frigates (FREMM) at the Riva Trigoso shipyard in Italy on December 19. Fincantieri is building the 10 FREMM vessels for the Italian Navy within the framework of an Italo-French cooper
The Swedish defence and security company Saab announced December 18 that it signed a contract with the Swedish Defence Material Administration for the yearly overhaul and modification of the Swedish Navy’s Stockholm-class corvettes. The two Swedish Navy vessels are HMS Stockholm and HMS Malmö. The a
The Canadian Navy’s hunter-killer submarine HMCS Windsor returned to Halifax December 17 after a three and a half month deployment to Western European waters. HMCS Windsor, along with HMC Ships Athabaskan, Halifax, Montréal, Goose Bay, and Summerside left Halifax in the early fall. The submarine is
HMS Lancaster, the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate, returned to Portsmouth December 17 from a nine-month deployment to the North and South Atlantic. The frigate has steamed more than 35,000 nautical miles across four oceans and has visited 23 ports in 18 countries. She was also the first Royal Navy ves
The German frigate FGS Hamburg will return to her homeport in Wilhelmshaven, Germany after spending six months as a NATO unit flagship on December 20. Hamburg was flagship of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2. The 200 men and women of the FGS Hamburg were commanded by Rear Admiral Jörg Klein, who w
Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training has been awarded a $72.4 million contract to provide U.S. and United Kingdom Trident II (D5) navigation subsystem engineering support services. The contract will see Lockheed Martin provide U.S. and U.K. fleet support and U.S. and U.K. trainer systems sup
The German frigate is currently on a mission to support the French aircraft carrier in his efforts against the Islamic State terror group in Syria. The two ships recently conducted a replenishment at sea maneuver with the U.S Navy’s replenishment oiler USNS Laramie. After the maneuver was complete,
EUNAVFOR Med operation Sophia air units have recently been augmented by the Hellenic Air Force aircraft Erieye EMB-145H AEW&C and a Spanish Navy AB-212 Helicopter. The Greek aircraft, based in the Hellenic Air Force Base of Elefsis in Greece, is an airborne Command and Control Platform with the capa
Two rubber boats, sailing in poor conditions in the Mediterranean Sea, were spotted in the morning of December 14 by a Spanish P3 Orion patrol aircraft deployed to Operation Sophia. The Slovenian corvette SNS Triglav 11, operating within Operation Sophia since October this year, was asked to interve
HMS Artful, the third of overall seven submarines the United Kingdom is building, has joined the Royal Navy fleet. Until now the submarine was owned by Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), the MOD’s body responsible for procuring and supporting equipment for the armed forces. Defence Minister Phili
Following the delivery of a water-making platform, a frigate and a tug, the Royal Moroccan Navy has now placed an order with Damen for five interceptor vessels. The Interceptor 1503 vessels will be mobilised to combat illegal activities such as terrorism and smuggling in Moroccan waters. According t
