Aircraft carrier

Many signs point to the clear urgency of the Middle East situation, one of which is the concentration of strong naval forces - along with Israeli forces - deployed all the way along the nation's coastline to guard the country's airspace and deter potential maritime threats.

The French Navy's flagship aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, arrived at NATO pier K14 at Marathi, in Souda (Crete) on Thursday.

The carrier will remain at in the Chania region until May 7, to participate in the mission Aquila, a NATO deployment of 15 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Defense Ministry has announced that Türkiye's indigenous frigate TCG Istanbul will be ready for duty in a month, while also unveiling the country's largest aircraft carrier project. 

Britain will send 20,000 armed forces personnel to one of NATO's largest exercises since the Cold War, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps announced on Monday.

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, along with personnel from Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12, has docked in Souda Bay on Crete island for a scheduled port visit as of Tuesday.

Five U.S. servicepeople were killed when a military helicopter crashed over the eastern Mediterranean Sea during a training mission, U.S. officials said Sunday.

The military's European Command said all five crew members on board were killed when the aircraft went down "during a routine air refueling mission as part of military training."

It will take a while, though, for either carrier to reach its full potential

The frigate is part of the fleet of vessels that accompany the British aircraft carrier “Queen Elizabeth”

The HMS Queen Elizabeth, the 65,000-ton British aircraft carrier, first of its class with the same name, will anchor at Souda Bay and, possibly, Piraeus, next June, Kathimerini understands.

Greek F-16s and French Rafale aircraft from the country's flagship aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle pictured during a recent joint training exercise southeast of Crete. The drill was held in the context of military cooperation between the two NATO allies.