Nov 16 - HMS Diamond Due In Gibraltar Today
HMS Diamond, a Type 45 destroyer, will arrive in Gibraltar later today for a routine, scheduled visit before returning to her home port of Portsmouth.
Having deployed to the Baltic and conducted escort duties of Russian vessels transiting through UK Territorial Waters, Diamond was tasked to continue her busy summer of operations and deploy to the Eastern Mediterranean. With no let up to the training, Diamond sailed on 29 Sep 18 with Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) staff embarked to assist in her preparations as she headed South. Stopping briefly into Crete en route for fuel and provisions, Diamond arrived off the coast of Cyprus on 7 Oct 18.
With the Ship’s Company operating both ashore and afloat with British Forces Cyprus (BFC), Diamons conducted Combat Enhancement Training and Force Integration Training (CET/FIT) allowing Diamond’s Fighter Controllers to exercise in the airspace above and around Cyprus. Training with E3s, Voyagers, Tornados, Typhoons, and F-16s, Diamons was able to demonstrate her ability to control a congested air environment, observe and direct a variety of aircraft and operate with other UK Forces.
This was following by a week of weapons and sensors training. She conducted live firing exercises with the 4.5” Gun, the 30mm, Phalanx and small arms, utilising her embarked Wildcat Helicopter (‘Roughcut’) to observe and direct the firings onto the targets with impressive accuracy.
Following a short stand-down period in Crete to take on some more stores and provisions, Diamond has returned once more to the waters surrounding Cyprus to carry out further exercises and training with the Air and Land Forces in the region, illustrating the UK’s ability to not only deploy at reach, but also operate in the joint environment to deliver military effect.
Diamond has spent the last month conducting training and exercises with NATO Allies and UK Forces based in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean.
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