May 11-17 Weekly News & Log Update

WEEKLY NEWS & LOG UPDATE May 11 - 17

NAVAL-MARINE OPERATIONS

CHINA 16th ESCORT TASK FORCE ·         (May 14) @ Senegal; Task force arrives at Dakar for 3-day visit (People's Daily) JOINT SEA 2014 EXERCISE ·         (May 14) @ Vladivostok; Six Russian warships depart for Shanghai, China to participate in major bi-lateral exercise JOINT SEA 2014 (People's Daily)  …units include o    RFS Adm. Nevelskoy (Landing Ship) o    RFS Adm. Panteleyev (Destroyer) o    RFS Bystry (Destroyer) o    RFS Ilim (Tanker) o    RFS Kalar (Tugboat) o    RFS Varyag (Cruiser) FRANCE WEST AFRICA CORYMBE TASK FORCE ·         Task Force:  FS Cmdt Blaison ·         NONE JEAN DE ARC TASK FORCE ·         Task Force: FS Mistral (Assault Ship); FS La Fayette (Frigate) ·         (May 10-11) Task Force trains with Guyana Armed Forces near Iles de Salut (MOD.FR) FS Dupleix (Destroyer) ·         (May 16) @ Toulon; French destroyer conducts its last day at sea with former shipmates and commanders, and will be retired following 33-years of service (MOD.FR) FS La Motte-Picquet (Destroyer) ·         (May 8-14) French destroyer FS La Motte-Picquet conducts PASSEX with Moroccan frigate Allal Ben Abdellah, anti-submarine joint training and refueling with FS Somme (MOD.FR) FS Prairial (Frigate) ·         (May 7) @ Hong Kong; French patrol frigate visits Hong Kong, will visit Chinese naval port Qingdao on May 22-26 (MOD.FR) FS Ventose (Frigate) ·         (Apr 11) @ Caribbean; French frigate seizes 120kg of cocaine during Caribbean patrol (MOD.FR) RUSSIA MEDITERRANEAN TASK FORCE NO NEWS UNITED KINGDOM HMS Lancaster (Frigate) ·         (May 14) @ Germany; UK frigate visits Hamburg during 825th birthday of the city (MOD.UK) HMS Northumberland (Frigate) ·         (May 19) @ Plymouth; UK frigate begins 6-month deployment to Indian Ocean (MOD.UK) HMS Protector (Ice patrol) ·         (May 16) @ Panama Canal; Royal Navy Ice Patrol ship transited the Panama Canal, is en route to Charleston (MOD.UK) HMS Somerset (Frigate) ·         (May 12) @ Oman; UK frigate on Indian Ocean patrol visits Muscat, supports Queen’s Birthday Party at British Embassy, currently halfway through 6-month deployment (MOD.UK) UNITED STATES US CARRIER STRIKE GROUPS USS Eisenhower (CVN-69) ·         (May 16) @ Portsmouth; USN carrier is halfway through its 14-month DPIA maintenance and is on track for undocking later this summer (USN) US AMPHIBIOUS READY GROUPS & COMMAND SHIPS USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) ·         (May 13) @ Thailand; US 7th Fleet Command ship concludes 3-day visit to Sattahip, delivering toys to Pattaya Orphanage and Child Protection and Development Center, and hosting visit by Royal Thai Navy staff (USN)   US WARSHIPS USS San Juan (SSN-751) ·         (May 16) @ Groton; USN Attack Sub returns from 7-month deployment to the 5th and 6th Fleet (USN) OTHER REGIONAL POWERS / ORGANIZATIONS EU – OPERATION ATALANTA (CTF-465) ·         (May 15) @ Tanzania; German frigate FGS Brandenburg visits Dar Es Salam for European Week (Marine) ·          (May 14) German frigate FGS Brandenburg updates it’s shipboard blog, includes beginning at Djibouti; rough seas and combat exercises; onboard sports; visit by Defense Minister Leyen and media (Marine) ·         (May 5-8) French frigate FS Floreal participates in joint exercise with Oman in exercise KANJAR HADD (MOD.FR) NATO – OPERATION OCEAN SHIELD (CTF-508) (Patrolled by NATO-SNMG-2) ·         (May 12) @ Arabian Sea; Spanish frigate SPS C. Colon continues training with USS Bush CSG, and conducted a joint air defense exercise with the USS Philippine Sea (Cruiser) (Armada) NATO – SNMG-1 ·         (May 15) @ Mediterranean; German Corvette FGS Magdeburg completes port visit at Crete, heading to Aksaz, Turkey where Denmark will assume FLAG of task force, then will return home (Marine) ·         (May 12) @ Mediterranean; Three additional frigates join NATO task force, USS Taylor, TCG Gemlik, HMCS Regina, and have been assigned to patrol E. Med. And Black Sea due to the Ukrainian Crisis (NATO) NATO – SNMG-2 ·         SEE OPERATION OCEAN SHIELD

AIR-GROUND OPERATIONS

CHINA MAINLAND CHINA ·         (May 6) PLA Aviation Regiment and Brigade conducts air assault combat training in Nanjing MAC (People's Daily) S. CHINA SEA ·         (May 14) @ S. Vietnam; Protestors burn 15-foreign factories following conflict over Chinese oil rig being placed in Vietnamese disputed waters (BBC) FRANCE NO NEWS RUSSIA KALININGRAD ·         (May 16) Russian Baltic Fleet Marines conduct amphibious assault training, units include 300-Marines and Zubr Class hovercraft (RIA Novosti) KAZAKHSTAN ·         (May 15) Kazakh Parliament ratifies treaty with Russia to establish a CIS joint air defense shield, the CIS shield is currently operational in Belarus, and negotiations with Armenia continue (RIA Novosti) UKRAINE ·         (May 16) Russia claims the Ukrainian special operation in SE Ukraine has cost 127 lives to date, ad 250 deaths since November (RIA Novosti) ·         (May 14) Crimea offers humanitarian assistance to Donesk and Luhansk (RIA Novosti) ·         (May 14) @ Slavyansk; Pro-Russian fighters opposing Ukrainian forces state their changing their strategy from defensive to offensive (RIA Novosti) ·         (May 11) Donesk and Luhansk regions vote for independence from Ukraine UNITED KINGDOM NO NEWS UNITED STATES AFGHANISTAN ·         (May 13) 1st Armored Division, 3rd Brigade – KIA @ Harat Province (DOD) ·         (May 11) 1st Cavalry Division, Combat Aviation Brigade – KIA @ Mazar E Sharif (Non-Combat) (DOD) NIGERIA ·         (May 14) @ Kala-Balge; 3-villages attacked by Boko Haram Islamic rebels, village vigilantes organize resistance and repeal attack, killing 200 (BBC) MULTILATERAL OPERATIONS NO NEWS