Category: Security policy

France supports its defence industry

The Franco-German company Airbus has been awarded a major defence contract by the French government. Its main components are eight H 225M helicopters for the French Air Force, two H 145s for the Sécurité Civile and ten H 160s for the gendarmerie. The navy can expect another prototype of the VSR 700. This Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) is currently being developed jointly with Naval Group and the Marine Nationale. This order is officially part of the plan adopted by France in 2020 to stimulate the national aviation industry. As such, the rotorcraft ordered will have significant parts supplied by French companies,...

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Mysterious incidents off the coast of the UAE

According to reports from pro-Iranian media and an Israeli television station on Tuesday, 13 April, a merchant ship was attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. It is said to be the Hyperion Ray, a vehicle transporter built in 2015, 200 metres long and 36 metres wide, which sails for the Ray Car Carrier shipping company. The ship was en route from Mina Al Ahmadi in Kuwait to the United Arab Emirates. At around midday on 13 April (around seven o'clock CET), the Hyperion Ray reported suspicious ship movements in its immediate vicinity. Satellite images show a larger cargo ship, which according to reports the Hyperion Ray was carrying...

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Rotation in Rota

After a two-week voyage, the USS Arleigh Burke arrived in her new home port of Rota on 11 April. At the end of March, she left her previous home in Norfolk for the last time for the next few years. On her way to Europe, the destroyer took part in a number of sub-hunting manoeuvres with her sister ship USS Roosevelt, the attack submarine USS Vermont and a P-8A. The Arleigh Burke is now an important part of the US European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) and thus serves to protect Europe from ballistic missiles of all ranges. It is also intended to ensure freedom of navigation in the waters around Europe and...

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Drugs found at sea

France can once again report a success in the fight against drug smuggling at sea. The frigate Guépratte stopped and searched a suspicious dhow in the Gulf of Oman. The boarding team quickly found suspicious packages, the contents of which turned out to be drugs. The soldiers were able to confiscate a total of 650 kilos of methamphetamine and 75 kilos of heroin and bring them on board the frigate. The Guépratte is actually part of Operation Agénor. However, flexibility was shown for the search and the ship was transferred under the command of Combined Task Force 150, whose mission is to observe, board, inspect and stop suspicious ships in global combat...

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