A large flight operations exercise, led by the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, is underway near the Canary Islands, the U.S. Navy announced.

The drills, off the West African coast, in the 6th Fleet area of operations, are meant to "support maritime security operations in international waters alongside our allies and partners," a Navy statement on Sunday said, but mentioned only Navy assets as participants.

Over 5,000 sailors, assigned to the ships and to aircraft units, are involved in the exercises.

"Conducting flight operations is an important part of maintaining readiness and also sends a clear signal of our capability, capacity and, if required, lethality," Rear Admiral Scott Robertson, commander of Carrier Strike Group Two, said in the statement.

Naval vessels involved include the ships of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Force, including the flagship aircraft carrier, guided-missile cruisers USS Monterey and the guided-missile destroyers USS Mitscher, USS Laboon, USS Mahan, USS Porter, and USS Thomas Hudner.

One element of the strike group, the cruiser USS Vella Gulf, returned to its homeport of Norfolk, Va., last week to address a fuel oil leak issue.

In February, all personnel aboard the aircraft carrier received COVID-19 vaccines while in port in Norfolk.

In August 2020, the ship returned to the United States after a seven-month deployment involving over 160 days at sea due to pandemic restrictions.

Related Links
Naval Warfare in the 21st Century

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

USS Port Royal, USS John Paul Jones participate in Joint Air Defense Exercise
Washington DC (UPI) Feb 25, 2021
The guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal and guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones participated in this year's Joint Air Defense Exercise alongside forces from U.S. Army Central Command and U.S. Air Forces Central earlier this month, the Navy announced. JADEX, which this year took place in the Gulf of Oman between Feb. 17 and 19, is a bi-annual three day-long training event focused on increasing air defense readiness, according to the Navy. This year's exercise included surface, ... read more