Naval forces from the United States and eight Latin American countries will conduct operations in the Pacific Ocean near Ecuador as part of the UNITAS LXI exercise that began this week.

This year's exercise includes forces from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay and will include 13 warships.

The exercise began Monday and continues through Nov. 11.

UNITAS, whose name is the Latin word for "unity," was conceived in 1959 and executed for the first time 1960, making this year's iteration the 61st -- and UNITAS the longest-running annual multinational naval exercise.

"UNITAS is designed to train each navy to conduct joint naval operations through the execution of littoral warfare, maritime interdiction operations, countering transnational organized crime, anti-surface warfare, electronic warfare, communications exercises, and air and amphibious operations in order to increase interoperability and capability between participating naval and marine forces," said a Navy press release.

Participating U.S. vessels include the USS Gabrielle Giffords, USNS Burlington, Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23 Detachment 9, Patrol Squadron 9, Patrol Squadron 26, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Legare and the U.S. Army Vessel Chickahominy.

U.S. Air Force Aircraft and staff members from Destroyer Squadron 40, U.S Marine Corps Forces South and U.S. 4th Fleet will also participate in the exercise.

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 Halsey returns home after seven months at sea
Washington DC (UPI) Oct 30, 2020
The guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey returned to its Hawaii homeport this week after seven months at sea, the U.S. Navy 3rd Fleet announced. The ship left Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in April and remained at sea due to constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was deployed to the 4th Fleet and 7th Fleet area of operations, and returned home on Thursday. With the 4th Fleet, the ship was involved in counternarcotics operations in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean with t ... read more