Four months to the day before the 68th anniversary of the landing at Normandy, the Navy and Marine Corps team conducted another historic amphibious operation.

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class (SW/FMF) Chad V. Pritt, USS Kearsarge Public Affairs

On 6th. February, Navantia has commissioned BAM “Relámpago” for the Spanish Navy, in a ceremony presided by the Minister of Defence, Pedro Morenés.

While tensions with Iran and Syria are rising on the international scene, NATO members are conducting (or will soon conduct) several large scale "joint" military maneuvers. These maneuvers have two roles: Send a strong message to the regimes and keep NATO armies, navies and air forces ready to work together should they intervene.
In February alone, no less than five such multi-nation exercises are planned.

Sunday, February 5 2012, an air group consisting of Rafales and Hawkeye landed on the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle off Toulon to train and qualify French Naval Aviation pilots switching from Super Etandard Modernisé to the new Rafale M.

Israel and Germany signed a contract a few weeks ago finalizing the sale of a sixth Dolphin class submarine to the Israel Navy, according to a report in The Jerusalem Post.

Iran on Saturday inaugurated the production line of a newly unveiled naval cruise missile, called Zafar (Triumph). The production line was inaugurated by Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi in a ceremony at the Defense Ministry' Aerospace Industries Organization on the occasion of the Ten-Day Dawn ceremonies, celebrating the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution back in 1979.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) began naval maneuvers this Saturday in the latest show of force near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the critical Gulf oil tanker route that the regime has threatened to close in retaliation for tougher Western sanctions.

Russia will start producing six submarines and one aircraft carrier annually starting in 2013, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Thursday. “By 2013, production capacity [at Russian shipyards] will allow us to build six submarines and an aircraft carrier every year,” Rogozin told reporters, adding that the number includes both nuclear and diesel-powered submarines.

DCNS launched yesterday the construction at the STX shipyard at Saint-Nazaire of the first of two BPC-type vessels ordered by the Russian Federation. Russian and French guests of honour joined DCNS and STX employees for the official ‘first cut’ ceremony.

A first Gremyashchy class corvette was laid down on Wednesday at Russia’s Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg, the company said. The Gremyaschy class (Project 20385) is an upgraded version of the Steregushchy class (Project 20380) corvette, featuring better electronics, air defenses and extended operation range.

The first Mistral class amphibious assault ship will be put in service with the Russian Navy in 36 months, Russian Navy Commander Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said on Wednesday. The French-built ships will be named Vladivostok and Sevastopol.

As we reported last week British and French ships joined a US carrier group in a six-strong flotilla of warships which passed through the Strait of Hormuz. French Navy released several pictures of the passage and of joint maneuvers in the gulf.