Biggest ever war exercise by the US and its allies in the Persian Gulf

Washington: The biggest ever war exercises organised by the US and its friendly nations in the Persian Gulf are just over. The leading warships of the US Fifth Fleet along with 21 nations participated in this exercise. Friends of the US in the Gulf like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman; major allies of the US, like UK and France had sent in their destroyers for this war exercise. An official who had participated in the war exercise said that the exercise had been organised after duly considering the situation in the Gulf.

Information , that the ‘International Maritime Exercise’ (IMX) had been organised, was released by the ‘Central Command’ of the US Navy in the Gulf region of Bahrain. The war exercises which started on the 2nd of May concluded last week on the 18th May. The war exercises were held in the Persian Gulf and the Manama Gulf. The details of the war exercises which were held for two weeks had not been disclosed. The information was released after four days.

The Aircraft Carrier warships, destroyers and submarines of the United States Fifth Fleet, which had been deployed in the Bahrain port, participated in this war exercises. The war exercises included sessions to tackle missile attacks and launching counterattacks; along with drills on how to respond to torpedo attacks carried out on the sea tunnels or destroyers.

This exercise of ‘IMX’ completed in the year 2017 was limited for a period of four days. It included exercises in designing ‘Table Top’. It included training in devising naval campaigns and extending cooperation and coordination at international levels. However, this year, the structure of the exercise was broadened to include ‘Table Top’ training and maritime exercises. For this reason, it is claimed, that the war exercises of ‘IMX’ of this year are significant. The war exercises next year would be far more extensive than this year. A senior official from the British Navy has claimed that in the coming years, naval forces from more friendly nations would participate in the war exercises.

This war exercise by the warships of US and its allied nations has been considered important. In the last few months tensions have increased in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. The US Aircraft Carrier warships and destroyers are being chased by the Iranian patrolling ships. Similarly, incidents have been reported of Iranian patrolling ships aiming rockets in direction of US warships. Apart from this, incidents of Iranian ‘Drones’ hovering over US warships and taking photographs have also been reported. US had expressed its displeasure over this incident.

Under these circumstances, the war exercises by the US and its allies in this marine area does come as a warning signal for Iran.