Survey ship HMS Echo has spent 12 days in Malta on the first stage of her 18-month mission to the Mediterranean and Middle East. The Devonport-based hydrographic vessel will be updating charts used by seafarers the world over, courtesy of her hi-tech sonar suites. It’s just under a year since the De
Portsmouth-based HMS Iron Duke has returned to sea after a 16-month upgrade and now boasts one of the world’s most advanced radar systems. The Type 23 frigate is the first Royal Navy ship to be fitted with Artisan – a 3D radar 5 times better than the old version it replaces. Iron Duke left Portsmout
HMS Defender took families and friends to sea for the first time recently, showing off the ship and giving family members the chance to see what life is like at sea for their serving relations. The day included escorting HMS Edinburgh into harbour for the last time before she was decommissioned, ful
Sandown-class minehunter HMS Ramsey may only be a sixteenth of the size of HMS Dragon, a Type 45 air defence destroyer, but the two vessels are working side by side maintaining maritime security in the region – a task the Royal Navy has been undertaking for over twenty years. Two Sandown and two Hun
USS Enterprise to Return to Newport News Shipbuilding USS Enterprise (CVN 65) will return to Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) with shipbuilders on board on Thursday, June 20. UK: Final Section of HMS Queen Elizabeth Heads for Rosyth The final section of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first of two new aircr
The Royal Navy is to get its first unmanned ‘eye in the sky’ in a £30m deal to buy the ScanEagle reconnaissance aircraft. The pilotless plane has been used by the US Navy over the past decade and has been trialled by the Royal Navy. Whitehall is investing in the small, unarmed ScanEagle robot planes
For the first time one of the Royal Navy’s new Type 45 destroyers has used two helicopters on front-line operations. HMS Dragon doubled her effectiveness for two months flying not the usual one, but two Lynx helicopters from her flight deck. The destroyer, on her maiden deployment, left Portsmouth i
Araguari, the third of three Ocean Patrol Vessels built by BAE Systems, was handed over to the Brazilian Navy in a ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base today. Employees joined guests from the Brazilian Navy and UK Royal Navy, to watch as members of the ship’s company raised the ensign for the first tim
HMS Ledbury has just completed a visit to the Albanian Port of Vlore in the company of her NATO counterparts. As part of the standing NATO Mine Counter Measure Group 2 – she arrived in port with ITS Crotone of the Italian Navy and TGC Edincick from the Turkish Navy. The Task Group spent three [&hell
The Hunt Class Mine Countermeasures Vessel (MCMV) HMS Brocklesby will visit Torbay on Friday (June 21) for the start of a three-day regional engagement programme, and in particular, to support the town’s Armed Forces Day events. The Royal Navy warship will anchor off the town from 5pm on Friday nigh
British, American and Canadian sailors paid homage to men killed in one of the most famous – and bloodiest – battles waged the last time London and Washington went to war against each other. Personnel from all three nations paid their respects to the dead of HMS Shannon and USS Chesapeake, laid to r
The guided-missile cruiser USS Hue City (CG 66) arrived in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, June 18. The visit will provide the crew with well-deserved rest and relaxation before continuing on to the ship’s homeport of Mayport, Fla. The Hue City’s crew recently completed their mission to the U.S. 5th Fleet
The Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate will visit the British Overseas Territory later this week – the third port on her deployment after first stopping in Bermuda and then Key West, Florida. Lancaster, affectionately nicknamed ‘The Queen’s Frigate’ after her sponsor Her Majesty The Queen, will visit all
During the three-month long deployment of the FREMM frigate Aquitaine, the implementation crew for the NH90 helicopter from 33F Squadron had an opportunity to experience the operational capabilities of the FLASH SONICS system. The FLASH system (Folding Light Acoustic System for Helicopters) is an ac
