Canadian Armed Forces members complete their participation in multinational maritime security Exercise CUTLASS EXPRESS 2015

News Release

February 4, 2015

OTTAWA — Twenty-six Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members currently deployed on Operation ARTEMIS completed their participation in the multinational maritime security exercise CUTLASS EXPRESS 2015 off the African East Coast and in the Indian Ocean today.

Partnering with like-minded and allied nations provides an opportunity for the Canadian Armed Forces to participate in multinational operations and exercises that further develop interoperability.

Quick Facts

Sponsored by United States Africa Command and conducted from January 28 to February 4, Exercise CUTLASS EXPRESS 2015 was designed to increase capabilities of East African and Indian Ocean nations to counter sea-based illicit activity.
Eighteen CTF-150 members participated in the multinational exercise from their headquarters in Bahrain contributing to improve the interoperability and the information sharing between regional Maritime Operations Centres (MOCs), enhancing their ability to detect and respond to maritime threats, and to safeguard shipping lanes of global economic importance in the region. Six other CTF-150 members also played a similar role in three MOCs located in Kenya, Tanzania and Mauritius
To complement CTF-150 capacity building efforts, two Naval Boarding specialists from the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) were also deployed to Mauritius to hone the skills and knowledge of participating naval and security forces in visit, boarding and search and seizures techniques.
Participating nations in CUTLASS EXPRESS 2015 included Australia, Canada, Comoros, Djibouti, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Seychelles, Tanzania, Turkey, the U.S. and Yemen. Representatives from the Eastern Africa Standby Force, EU Naval Force, International Maritime Organization, and Combined Maritime Forces did participate as well.
Operation ARTEMIS is the CAF’s ongoing contribution to counter-terrorism and maritime security operations across the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean.

Quotes

“Canada is pleased to have contributed to strengthening partner maritime forces’ ability to execute maritime security operations, further denying illicit uses of the seas in support to terrorism. The CAF participation in Exercise CUTLASS EXPRESS was another expression of our longstanding commitment to international peace and security as well as the rule of law on the ocean commons.”
The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls and Minister of National Defence

“The RCN is recognized by the international maritime community as one of the best navies in the world in conducting boarding operations; experience that we have gained by conducting maritime security operations in this exact region of the world. We are honoured to have had the opportunity to share our experiences and knowledge with partner maritime forces, promoting international peace and security on the high seas.”
Commodore Brian Santarpia, Commander Combined Task Force 150

Related Products

Operation ARTEMIS Webgrounder

Imagery of CAF members’ participation to Exercise CUTLASS EXPRESS 2015 is available at www.forcesimages.ca

Associated Links

Combined Maritime Forces website

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2016-12-14

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Canadian Armed Forces members complete their participation in multinational maritime security Exercise CUTLASS EXPRESS 2015

News Release

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