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Exercise Malabar 07-1 Begins
YOKOSUKA, Japan More than 6,500 U.S. Navy Personnel will take part in Exercise Malabar 07-1 off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, in conjunction with an Indian Navy port visit to Yokosuka.Exercise Malabar 07-1 is a key element of the Pacific Fleets exercise schedule and is designed to increase interoperability between the Indian and U.S. Navies while enhancing the cooperative security relationship between India and the United States. The at-sea training will include sea control operations, maritime interdiction maritime operations, and will exercise all major warfare areas. The participants will conduct personnel exchanges and professional discussions both at sea and ashore. The U.S. will be represented by USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), USS Mustin (DDG 89), USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54), USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), USS Stethem (DDG 63), USS Gary (FFG 51), USS Greenville (SSN 772), three SH-60Bs one SH-60F, and a P-3C maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft. Indian vessels participating in Malabar 07-1 include INS Mysore (DDG), INS Rana (DDG) INS Ranjit (DDG), INS Jyoti (AO), INS Kuthar (Corvette), and various Indian naval aircraft. During the exercise, the two nations ships will work together in a variety of functional skill areas, including visit boarding search and seizure (VBSS), surface exercises, formation steaming, coordinated surface fire support, air defense exercises and antisubmarine warfare training. This is the ninth iteration of the Malabar Exercise series, which was last held in September 2006 off the coast of India. The Arleigh Burke-Class Guided-Missile Destroyers John S McCain, Mustin, Curtis Wilbur, Fitzgerald and Stethem are multi-mission platforms capable of supporting anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine warfare. The 9,600-ton warships can support carrier strike groups and amphibious forces, and can operate independently. USS Gary is a 4,100-Ton Oliver Hazard Perry-Class frigate capable of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) to protect amphibious expeditionary forces, underway replenishment groups and merchant convoys. USS Greenville is a 6,900-Ton Los Angeles-Class attack submarine homeported in Pearl Harbor. Attack Submarine mission areas include anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, special operations and strike warfare. Commander, Destroyer Squadron 15 will be embarked in USS John S. McCain. Destroyer Squadron 15 and its ships are part of the forward-deployed naval forces located in Yokosuka, Japan. Operating in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean, the U.S. Seventh Fleet is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. Fleets, composed of approximately 50 ships, 120 aircraft and 20,000 Sailors and Marines assigned at any given time. For more information, visit the U.S. Seventh Fleet web site at www.c7f.navy.mil. Posted by: John Frum 2007-04-06 |
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