MOSCOW. June 20 (Interfax-AVN) - The British Defense Ministry is planning to review the memorandum on mutual understanding and cooperation in the naval sphere signed in 1998 by the Royal Navy and the Russian Navy, Britain's First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sir Alan West, has said.
Britain and Russia are facing the mission to expand the measures that are being taking in the framework of the memorandum, West said in an interview with Russia's Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper published on Friday. For instance, if ships of the parties are practicing joint maneuvers in the sea, the exercise should be complicated enough, he stressed.
According to West, British sailors are extremely interested in the Russian naval school and the Russian Navy's experience in combat training.
By studying Russian methods of naval training, navigation issues and ship control, British sailors can gain a lot of useful skills that will be later used in the training of British cadets, he said.
Born in 1948, Admiral Sir Alan West joined the Navy in 1965. He has spent the majority of his career at sea serving in 14 different ships and commanding three of them. He is a graduate of the Royal Naval Staff Course, the Higher Command and Staff Course and the Royal College of Defense Studies.
Promoted to Rear Admiral in February 1994 he was responsible for naval manning, numbers and structures as well as career management and deployment.
In February 1996 he became Commander United Kingdom Task Group. He was promoted to Vice Admiral in October 1997 and appointed as Chief of Defense Intelligence.
West was created KCB in the Millennium New Years Honors List and promoted to Admiral in November 2000 when he took up his position as Commander-in-Chief Fleet, NATO Commander-in-Chief East Atlantic and NATO Commander Allied Naval Forces North. He was appointed as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in September 2002.