Coronavirus Impact: France Pulls Out from African West Coast Maritime Security Mission

04/03/2020
by defenceWeb The French Navy has suspended its Mission Corymbe off West Africa due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, and withdrawn a vessel from the area. The patrol vessel Lieutenant de Vaisseau Le Henaff, which departed Brest on 3 March for West Africa, returned to France at the end of the…

The Contribution of the Australian Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel to Smart Sovereignty

04/01/2020
By Robbin Laird The argument of my forthcoming report on the nature and impact of the new build Australian OPV program is that the new build OPV is shaping a new template for Australian shipbuilding. And it is one in which the role of the prime contractor is being redefined…

USNS Comfort Departs Norfolk In Support of U.S. Coronavirus Response

03/28/2020
NORFOLK, Va. (March 28, 2020) The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) departs Naval Station Norfolk, Va. March 28, 2020. Comfort is deploying in support of the nation’s COVID-19 response efforts and will serve as a referral hospital for non-COVID-19 patients currently admitted to shore-based hospitals. This…

The View from the Hill: The UK in the COVID-19 Pandemic

03/24/2020
By Kenneth Maxwell I am quarantined on my hill in Devon. The British Media had been celebrating the “Dunkirk” spirit. The British Prime Minister, the old Etonian, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, better know as as “Boris” or “BoJo” is the author of a book on Winston Churchill. He likes…

France Sails Helicopter Carrier on Medical Mission

03/23/2020
By Pierre Tran Paris - The French navy sailed a helicopter carrier to the Mediterranean island of Corsica to pick up patients hit by the coronavirus infection, the armed forces ministry said March 22. Florence Parly tweeted the arrival today of Thunder, a Mistral class helicopter carrier, at the port…

French Air Force Flies Medical Airlift in France for First Time

03/19/2020
By Pierre Tran Paris - On March 18, 2020, the French air force flew six civilian patients severely hit by the deadly coronavirus in an A330 MRTT military transport jet fitted out with an onboard medical evacuation unit, the armed forces ministry said. That was the first time the service…