Saturday, 23 March 2019

Landing with a Hellenic Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter on an Egyptian Navy Mistral-class helicopter carrier!


The Egyptian Mistral-class LHD as seen from the Greek Chinook's loading ramp
From June 23 to 29, 2018, the bilateral joint exercise “Medousa 6” was conducted, under the existing military cooperation programme between Greece and Egypt. The exercise included phases of activities conducted ashore-Alexandria Naval Base and at sea-in the wider region, north of Alexandria inside Cairo FIR. The Hellenic Armed Forces participated with two frigates, one submarine, eight F-16 fighters, one AWACS, one Super Puma SCAR helicopter, one Chinook carrier helicopter, two Apache attack helicopters, and SOF team The Egyptian Armed Forces with one Mistral-class landing helicopter dock, two frigates, two missile boats, one submarine, six F-16 fighters, two Rafale fighters, one AWACS, a helicopter and SOF team. Cypriot Armed Forces participated also with one patrol vessel and SOF team. The purpose of the exercise was to further advance the cooperation of the Armed Forces in a multi-threat environment. The Medusa joint exercises aim at bolstering cooperation and exchange expertise between the armed forces of Egypt and Greece. The following exclusive photos were taken from the interior of the 4th Army Aviation Helicopter Battalion (1st Army Aviation Brigade, Hellenic Army) CH-47 Chinook carrier helicopter that took part in the "Medusa 6" exercise. Enjoy!

Sunday, 10 March 2019

BOOK REVIEW #5: In Deepest Secrecy - Dutch submarine espionage operations from 1968 to 1991

Welcome to my fifth book review, In Deepest Secrecy, Dutch submarine espionage operations from 1968 to 1991, by Jaime Karremann.

In Deepest Secrecy
HNLMS Tonijn (1966-1991), a Potvis-class
submarine and today a museum boat.
This is a truly fascinating book about the Royal Netherlands Navy secret submarine intelligence operations during the Cold War, from the freezing Arctic Ocean to shallow waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Only a handful of people outside the Royal Netherlands Navy were aware of these operations, as they were not NATO operations. For the first time, In Deepest Secrecy describes these top-secret deployments in detail. Based on interviews and extensive archival research, Jaime Karremann reveals how the Dutch submarines followed, photographed and listened to Soviet ships unnoticed.