Category: Marines from all over the world

Royal Navy - the frigate dilemma

Royal Navy - the frigate dilemma

Gepostet von | 7 May 2025 | , , | 3

The Type 23 frigate "HMS Iron Duke" was the last remaining unit of the Type 23 flotilla (133 metres, 4,300 tonnes) that once comprised 16 ships in the port of Portsmouth. It has now been redeployed to its new home port of Devonport/Plymouth, where the other six remaining Type 23 frigates are already based. The ships, which are now 40 years old and very costly to maintain, are now concentrated at one location for better coordination of maintenance measures. The original plan from 2017 was to relocate all sub-hunting frigates with towed arrays to Plymouth, while those without towed sonar were to remain in Portsmouth. However, some frigates were decommissioned more quickly than...

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Hegseth and the US Navy - more oomph instead of perpetual rubbish

Hegseth and the US Navy - more oomph instead of perpetual rubbish

Gepostet von | 5 May 2025 | , , | 0

Pete Hegseth, the Minister of Defence, announced in mid-February that around 8 % of the investment programmes in the US defence budget are to be cut - this corresponds to around 50 billion dollars. The main projects affected are those relating to diversity, equality and inclusion, followed by climate protection programmes. The freed-up funds are to be used instead for presidential priorities - above all for securing the US border and for the purchase and introduction of the "Iron Dome for America" missile defence system based on the Israeli model. What is now required is a credible deterrent potential - and the ability to win wars. The construction programme is not affected by the cuts...

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Spain: Harrier jump jet on the Black Sea

Spain: Harrier jump jet on the Black Sea

Gepostet von | 3 May 2025 | , , | 1

With its carrier group in the eastern Mediterranean, the Armada has shown what the actually quite old Harrier vertical take-off aircraft are still capable of in their land attack support role: From the "Juan Carlos I", the core of the Dedalo carrier group consisting of the frigates "Blas de Lezo" and "Victoria" as well as the amphibious assault ship "Castilla" and a further two units, three of the embarked Hawker Siddeley Harriers took off to deliver live 500kg MK-82 bombs to the targets at the Getica land combat training area near Cincu in the middle of Romania, 1,000 kilometres away. Of course, this was only possible by refuelling an A400-M of the Spanish Air Force, which was already part of the Spanish NATO air contingent...

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US Navy - an art collector as Secretary of the Navy

US Navy - an art collector as Secretary of the Navy

Gepostet von | 2 May 2025 | , , | 1

Donald Trump chose an entrepreneur and art collector who has never had anything to do with the navy or armed forces as the new Secretary of the Navy (SecNav) quite early on before taking office. For good reasons. However, as founder and chairman of the private investment agency Rugger Management, John Phelan has inexhaustible financial resources at his disposal. At a fundraising dinner in Aspen/Colorado, one of his places of residence, he raised 12 million dollars for the Republicans - (not) an easy task with an entrance fee of 25 to 500 thousand dollars! He added just under 2 million from his own funds. With this he was able to...

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Russia - its own limpet mines are becoming a problem

Russia - its own limpet mines are becoming a problem

Gepostet von | 1 May 2025 | , , | 0

Since the beginning of the year, there have been increasing reports of explosions on or in Russian ships in the Mediterranean, but also in the Baltic Sea. According to various sources, these incidents are mostly due to limpet mines, of which there were - and apparently still are - considerable stocks in Soviet times, particularly in countries of the Eastern Bloc. The only surprising thing is that these now appear to be used against the manufacturer. Everything is in the subjunctive, because precise information is understandably scarce. In most cases, the victims had previously stayed in Russian harbours. A prominent example is the "Ursa Major", which sank in December not far from Gibraltar...

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