Cutlass Fury
CUTLASS FURY is a combined, joint maritime exercise, designed to promote and enhance regional cooperation in the Atlantic, hosted by Commander Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and executed by Commander Canadian Fleet Atlantic (CCFL).
Over three weeks in September 2016, the U.S. Navy and four partner nations operated off the east coast of North America to conduct maritime exercise Cutlass Fury 2016—an anti-submarine warfare centric exercise—the largest Canadian led event of its kind conducted on this side of the Atlantic in 20 years. This year’s exercise incorporates Naval Air and Land Force components form six participating nations: Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Germany.
CF 16 was the inaugural of a series of similar exercises conducted every two years [in practice, it turned out to tbe three years]. The RCN had conducted major multi-national, multi-threat exercises, known variously as MARCOT (Maritime Coordinated Operational Training), SQUADEX (Squadron Exercise), FLTEX (Fleet Exercise) and other names, with forces of allies coming to the North West Atlantic to practice their capabilities in the demanding maritime environment here. What is interesting to note is the revival of a level of training that was routine during the Cold War in the face of the Soviet threat.
U.S. forces included guided missile destroyers USS Gonzalez (DDG 66) and USS Bulkeley (DDG 84); dry cargo ship USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE-5); the staff of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 28; and elements of Carrier Strike Group 8, Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2, Patrol Squadron 26 (VP 26), Helicopter Sea Control Squadron 28 (HSC 28) and Helicopter Strike Maritime Squadron 72 (HSM 72).
An international team of 3,000 personnel, 11 ships, 25 aircraft and three submarines, built upon long-standing partnerships with fellow NATO members Canada, France, Spain and the United Kingdom. They trained and operated together, sending a powerful and visible signal of combined effectiveness and an ability to be bold, strong and ready. Cutlass Fury continued the drumbeat of readiness by conducting dozens of training events at sea–sharing, testing and validating doctrine, tactics and, most importantly, the ability to train and learn together with partners. This created an environment that fostered communication and adaptation to become a stronger, more unified force. In an advanced training environment at sea, forces successfully added to a reservoir of experience and knowledge.
Ships from eight NATO nations visited Halifax from September 9 to 20 for Exercise CUTLASS FURY 2019, which will take place in the waters and skies off Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. It was a medium-scale international exercise and visiting warships were open for tours for two days. One of NATO's four naval groups – Standing Naval Maritime Group 1 – will also participate in the event. Cutlass Fury 2019 was the largest Canadian-led naval exercise to take place off Canada's east coast in decades. The eleven-day exercise brought together 20 ships and 36 aircraft in the waters off Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Training included air defence, defence against attack from enemy navy vessels, air-to-air combat and defence against submarines.
The exercise saw most of the 22 warships departing Bedford Basin on September 9. In Cutlass Fury 2016 there were two nuclear submarines docked at CFB Shearwater which joined the fleet as it left the harbor and this was expected again this year. Cutlass Fury 19 said something about how the Canadian Armed Forces and other militaries viewed the current global situation. It was a revival of a level of training that was routine during the Cold War. Naval action was no longer just about anti-terrorism, humanitarian assistance/disaster response and the conduct of maritime intercept operations. This was a return to classic naval warfare. It came at a time when more than one-half of the main U.S. naval forces are at sea.
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