August 11th Weekly Update

SHIP LOCATIONS:

Ship & Group Locations Checked / Updated (August 5 - 11)

• CARAT 2012 continues in WESTPAC
• NORTHERN EAGLE 2012 will begin (August 18^th) in North Sea / Barents Sea
• NATO Amphibious Exercise will begin in (August) in Mediterranean, date TBA, HMS Illustrious and FS C.D. Gaulle tasked to participate

SHIP LOGS:

August 6

• HMAS Canberra (LHD) arrives in Melbourne, Australia next month for installation of it's superstructure and systems (Courier Mail )
• HMS Diamond (DDG) arrives in Persian Gulf, begins patrol
• PLAAN Yantai (FFG) visits Varna, Bulgaria (Aug 5) (China Economic Net )
• PLAAN Zhenghe training ship visiting French Polynesia (Aug 3) (China Economic Net )
• RUSSIAN INTERFLEET TASK FORCE: currently in Mediterranean patrolling (...ORBAT updated and fixed) (Naval Today )
• USS T. Roosevelt (CVN-71) begins Chief Induction Season (...currently in Maintenance @ Newport News)

August 7

• HMS Sutherland (FFG) arrives in AOR east of Suez, begins patrol
• USS A. Lincoln (CVN-72) arrives at Norfolk, deployment ends, preparing for maintenance phase (...removed from Active Schedule)

August 8

• HMS Westminster (FFG) will return to UK from Indian Ocean patrol on (August 13) (Royal Navy )
• USS Boxer (LHD-4) crew perform flight deck firefighting training, preparing for Aviation Certs
• USS J.E. Williams (DDG-95) rescues Iranian sailors from burning vessel in Gulf of Oman (..currently part of Enterprise CSG)
• USS Louisville (SSN-724) completes WESTPAC deployment, returns to Pearl Harbor (...removed from log)
• USS Olympia (SSN-717) begins WESTPAC deployment (...log updated)

August 9

• FS Jean Bart (DDG) at Cyprus, Train with Cypriot Coast Guard (French Navy )
• USS Farragut (DDG-99) visited Riga, Latvia on (Aug 4) for 4-days (...currently on EUCOM deployment)
• USS Nimitz (CVN-68) begins onloading supplies after RIMPAC (August 4)

August 10

• HMS Dauntless (DDG) finishing visit to Cape Town, South Africa (Royal Navy )
• USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) visiting Fukuoka, Japan (US Navy )

August 11

• RUSSIAN INTERFLEET TASK FORCE: completed a 2-day tactical exercise in Mediterranean (RIA Novosti )
• USS Vela Gulf (CG-72) returns to Norfolk after EUCOM deployment (Hampton Roads )

GROUND UNITS LOGS:

Ground units locations updated per DOD reports, up to (August 5 – 11) (DOD News Releases )

• INDRA 2012 began (August 5^th), Anti-terror exercise with Russia and India being held in Russia's Far East District for 1-week (RIA Novosti ). Here's a video of Indian and Russian tank crews practicing during the exercise (...I noticed the Russians have adopted a computer generated camo pattern for their uniforms, much like the US, but retaining their preferred drab green emphasis ...who do I have to talk to to buy a uniform set? It would look cool while doing yard work or hiking!) (RIA Novosti video )
• KAVKAZ-2012: (September 17-23) upcoming Russian Ex in Caucasus
• French BG Steel units, working with Afghan army and police, clashed with Taliban units near Tagab District bridge, 2-French troops wounded, 12-Taliban KIA (French Def Min )
• UK Light Dragoons – discover and destroy large cache of bomb making equipment in Helmand, Afghanistan (UK MOD )
• UK The Rifles, 3^rd Battalion – KIA @ Nad-e Ali, Helmand Prov., Afghanistan (August 10) (UK MOD )
• UK 26 Engineer Regiment, 30 Armored Engineer Squadron – KIA @ Nad-e Ali, Helmand Prov., Afghanistan (August 10) (UK MOD )
• US 1^st Marine Division, 1^st Regiment – KIA @ Shaban, Afghanistan (August 7)
• US 4^th Infantry Division, 4^th Brigade – KIA @ Sarkowi, Kunar Province, Afghanistan (August 8)
• US 25^th Infantry Division, 4^th Brigade – KIA @ Koragay, Afghanistan (August 7)
• US 82^nd Airborne Division, 4^th Brigade – KIA @ Kandahar, Afghanistan (August 2)

NOTEWORTHY NEWS:

August 6

• SYRIA: Syria's Prime Minister Riyad Hijab defects, flees country, denounces Assad regime (Reuters); The Army claims to be bracing itself for a decisive blow against the rebels in Aleppo, while they push deeper into the city heart and stage hit-and-run attacks in Damascus (AP)

August 7

• RUSSIA: KAVKAZ-2012 EX, Russian Defense Ministry says foreign observers won't be invited to the upcoming strategic command staff wargames (September 17-23) (ITAR-TASS); also reported that Iskander ballistic missiles will be live fired (RIA Novosti )

August 10

• IRAN: Russia says that if Iran doesn't drop their suit for S-300 air defense systems, then Russia may withdraw their international support for the Iranian government (ITAR-TASS )
• RUSSIA: Russia is planning to reequip their Air Force air defense units with S-400 (SA-21), S-300 (SA-12) and Pantsyr-S1 (SA-22) by 2020 (RIA Novosti )
• SYRIA: Army says they've pushed the rebels out of Salaheddin District of Aleppo (RIA Novosti )
• USA: The US is planning to deploy their missile defense systems, Radars and Interceptors, with the triggers held by individual nations (RIA Novosti )

August 11

• SYRIA: French special forces are reportedly in Jordan on the Syrian border alongside US and UK units. It's said that their mission is to assist the Syrian rebels there, but observers say the troops are trained for deep penetration (Debka ) However, France reports an army surgical team has been deployed from Brest to Jordan, with the ability to do 10-operations per day and a 20-bed capasity (France Def Ministry )