The Royal Navy's former Sandown-class minehunter, ex-HMS Blyth, is pictured during its decommissioning ceremony on 4 August 2021. The vessel was transferred to the Romanian Navy in September 2023. (Crown Copyright)

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has sold two second-hand Royal Navy (RN) Sandown-class minehunters to the Romanian Navy to support maritime security operations in the Black Sea region.

In a 28 September announcement, the MoD confirmed the sale of ex-HMS Blyth , which was decommissioned from RN service in 2021, and HMS Pembroke , which will be retired from service in early 2024.

Ex- Blyth was officially transferred to the Romanian Navy during September, while Pembroke will be transferred in the second quarter of 2024, the MoD said.

The Romanian parliament approved a programme to procure and modernise two second-hand Sandown-class minehunters from the UK on 18 May. Blyth and Pembroke were subsequently sold on behalf of the MoD by the Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA), part of the MoD's Defence Equipment and Support organisation, for an undisclosed amount.

Greece is to start negotiations to purchase at least two Heron high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aircraft systems. (IAI)

The joint chiefs of the Hellenic National Defence Forces General Staff decided on 25 September to increase the number of Greek military personnel to be assigned to missions abroad under either NATO or European Union (EU) command by up to 20%. The three armed services will now issue specific proposals on units assigned to missions abroad.

The joint chiefs also discussed armament programmes included in the armed forces' medium-term upgrade and modernisation plan. They approved the purchase of more fast-attack craft (FAC) armed with missiles. The Hellenic Navy (HN) has seven Roussen-class (Super Vita) FAC armed with Exocet missiles, and nine older Combattante IIIA- and Combattante IIIB-class ships are to be replaced in the next few years.

It was also decided that the Etna-class general support ship, HS Prometheus , would be converted into a command-and-control (C2) ship at yet-to-be decided Greek shipyards.

US Coast Guard Cutter Forward (WMEC 911) steams near an iceberg in the Atlantic in support of ‘Operation NANOOK'. (US Coast Guard)

Having been successful in blurring the lines of US naval command responsibilities for Atlantic Ocean theatres, the US Navy (USN) is looking to create a similar single approach for ensuring US interests and national security in Arctic regions, according to Admiral Daryl Caudle, US commander of Fleet Forces Command, Naval Forces Northern Command (NAVNORTH), Naval Forces Strategic Command, and Strategic Command Joint Force Maritime Component Commander.

When Adm Caudle took over as commander of these naval components in December 2021, he set out to erase the line dividing areas of responsibility for the Atlantic.

“One of the challenges is that in the middle of the Atlantic, you have NORTHCOM [Northern Command] on one side [and] EUCOM [European Command] on the other side,” Adm Caudle told Janes on 25 September in an interview at US Fleet Forces Command (USFFC) headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia.

“We've been able to dissolve that,” he said, noting increased co-ordination, collaboration, and seamless sharing of resources by the different combatant commanders.