Maritime forces complete Intrepid Sentinel warfare exercise

Maritime forces from France, the United Kingdom, Australiaand the United States participated in the maritime warfare exercise IntrepidSentinel in the Arabian Gulf in mid January.

Participating ships included France’s Marine NationaleF70AA-class air defense destroyer FS Cassard (D 614); United Kingdom’s RoyalNavy Daring-class air defense destroyer HMS Dragon (D 35); Royal AustralianNavy Anzac-class frigate HMAS Ballarat (FFH 155); U.S. Navy aircraft carrierUSS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) andguided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111).

The exercise put the ships through several integrated eventsusing air and surface platforms to build proficiency across multiple warfareareas and promote integration of multinational maritime forces in the area ofoperations into a cohesive combat force.

Some of the shared evolutions included a cross-deck ofSailors, air defense exercises, helicopter deck landing qualification (DLQ)cross decks, plane guard exercises and formation sailing.

Helicopter cross deck training was performed between U.S.Navy helicopters and French helicopters. MH-60R Sea Hawks, from HelicopterMaritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 71, were able to conduct DLQs with the Ballarat.

“Training to work together on a different platform, to workin close proximity together and to land on a new platform gives us the abilityto expand our skillset,” said Lt. John White, a pilot assigned to HSM-71, thehelicopter aircraft commander of one of the cross deck flights. “Theopportunity that we were given to do this demonstrated not only our capabilityto interoperate, but how natural it is to work with our partner nations.”

The French Panther anti-submarine helicopters also conducteda DLQ cross deck to the flight deck of the John C. Stennis.

Intrepid Sentinel focused on modern naval warfighting corecompetencies by reviewing performance and tactics, command and controlconstructs and recommending solutions to warfighting gaps. The ships of thecoalition also conducted integrated air intercept control and response, as wellas trading off surface warfare commander and screen commander roles.

Intrepid Sentinel also included surface warfare exercises,such as formation sailing, where the ships of the coalition practiced dynamicwarfare techniques demonstrating the interoperability between allies.

Conducting multilateral maritime exercises like IntrepidSentinel allows coalition forces to deter potential adversaries, assurepartners and hone skills that allow the group to collectively meet anychallenge.