With the situation in the Persian Gulf still in crisis, the United States and Bahrain recently held joint air, land and sea military exercises in the region to expand the level of cooperation between the two militaries, support long-term regional stability and enhance the interoperability of their military relationship.
The bilateral military exercise, called Neon Defender 21, was held in the Persian Gulf and Bahrain last Saturday (3) through Wednesday (7). The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet said Thursday (8) that U.S. forces from the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard participated in the exercise, using the USS Mahan, a SHIELD destroyer, Navy patrol boats and patrol boats, and Coast Guard patrol boats, while the Bahraini Defense Force sent Navy fast attack boats and Coast Guard fast response boats.
The exercise simulated multiple scenarios, focusing on maritime security, protection of maritime infrastructure, port defense, “visit, board, search and seizure” (VBSS) operations, mine clearance, repair of damaged airport runways, and countermeasures against homemade explosive devices. Specially, this year’s exercise for the first time arranged for the two forces to participate in air operations training in support of maritime surface operations, the two forces aircraft jointly practiced on simulated threat targets, the launch of maritime strike operations.
The U.S. military refers to the scale of this year’s exercise is the largest ever, but also said that through the joint exercise, allowing U.S. forces to effectively build the necessary skills to deal with threats to freedom of navigation and international trade, and to strengthen regional security and stability.
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