Category: Marines from all over the world

Vaccination as a top priority - Portuguese admiral makes his country a frontrunner

He only retired from his post as Fleet Commander of the Portuguese Navy (2017 to 2020, a good part of which he also served as Commander European Maritime Force (EUROARFOR)) at the beginning of 2020, but he doesn't have much time left as a pensioner for the time being. At the beginning of 2021, when the infection figures in Portugal were at the top of the world after the second coronavirus wave and the health system's dams were threatening to break with 2,000 deaths per week, clever politicians remembered Vice Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo: could this naval officer achieve what politicians are perhaps not trusted to do - namely cross-sectional herd immunity in the population...

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Type 31 frigate - first export order for Babcock

Two years ago, Indonesia announced at the London defence trade fair DSEI (Defence & Security Equipment International) that the British shipbuilding group Babcock, with its ARROWHEAD-140 design for the Royal Navy's new Type 31 frigate, was the preferred supplier for a corresponding newbuilding programme to be carried out at the domestic state shipyard PT PAL in Surabaya. It was announced at this year's DSEI that, following negotiations with Babcock, a licence construction contract for two frigates has now also been signed there. This is the first export order for the ARROWHEAD design. As the basic model allows for a range of individual configuration options, the national requirements will first be incorporated and then finalised.

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Greek-French - how shipbuilding is turning into a new security alliance

Security alliances declared out of nowhere are currently booming - this is not only due to the end of contact and exit restrictions during the pandemic, but perhaps more to the global power shifts that can no longer be denied. Following the failure of the submarine deal with Australia, the ball is now in France's court. Paris has rediscovered an old ally that is in need of a comprehensive overhaul of its navy: Greece. During the conflict over natural gas reserves in the north-eastern Mediterranean two years ago, France was the only EU state to send two frigates to the area to support Greece against Turkey. Thankfully, Greece has been able to stand by with its...

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Indian Ocean Region - India's strategic view across the ocean

The geostrategic tine in the Indian Ocean is a commitment: with a coastline of 2,000 kilometres on both sides and a wide view across the entire ocean from East Africa and Indonesia/Western Australia to Antarctica, it is a fundamental concern of the Indian Navy under Chinese pressure to keep an eye on movements on this immense body of water. It is at least worth a try, as three quarters of global maritime trade and around half of all consumer goods pass through this sea area. Of course, this cannot be done alone, not without an Information Fusion Centre - Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) as the central organisation and a maritime information exchange agreement, on which...

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AUKUS submarine programme - an attempt at classification

Comment: AUKUS caused a stir due to France's escalation of the Australian-British-American security agreement to an arms deal. There are lessons to be learnt for Brussels and Berlin from this process. Last week's surprise announcement of a new security agreement between the USA, the UK and Australia triggered a strong reaction in France. However, even after a week, the uproar, which reached all the way to the top of the EU, was directed less against the pact than against the cancellation of a submarine construction programme that was announced in the same breath. Even moderate media such as the FAZ are failing to differentiate between the two: it is making a point of the US going it alone in Afghanistan and...

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