VISHAKPATNAM, India – U.S Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) and a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance plane (MPRA), from Patrol Squadron (VP) 47, joined with ships, plane and personnel from India and quite a few different navies to start Train Milan 2022, within the Bay of Bengal, Feb. 25.
This yr marks the primary time U.S. has participated in Train Milan. Milan in Hindi means “assembly”. The primary Train Milan befell in 1995 with 4 navies and has taken place each two years since. That is the primary Train Milan since 2018 because the 2020 iteration was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This yr’s train is targeted on enhancing skilled interplay between skilled navies and gaining expertise in multilateral giant pressure operations at sea.
The train is scheduled to incorporate a harbor section adopted by a sea section the place the ships will give attention to a wide range of high-end tactical coaching, maneuvering drills, air-defense workouts, submarine familiarization, multinational replenishment-at-sea, communications drills, gunnery train, and joint warfighting situations.
“Milan offers a chance for like-minded navies that sharing a typical imaginative and prescient of a extra secure, open, and affluent Indo-Pacific, to function and practice alongside each other,” mentioned Cmdr. David Catterall, commanding officer, USS Fitzgerald. “We’re grateful for India’s internet hosting this essential occasion and their efforts to harmonize our contributions to the area, and stay up for making certain future engagements to construct sturdy alliances and partnerships.”
Train Milan contains forces from Australia, Bangladesh, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam. The final multinational train the U.S. participated within the Indian Ocean was MALABAR, in Oct. 2021, a QUAD maritime train with the Royal Australian Navy, Indian Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Protection Drive, and U.S. Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Arunta (FFH 151) transited with Fitzgerald throughout a gaggle sail forward of Train Milan commencing.
Fitzgerald is underway conducting operations in assist of a free and open Indo-Pacific, whereas assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest forward-deployed DESRON and the U.S. seventh Fleet’s principal floor pressure.
The “Golden Swordsmen” of VP-47 are a part of Commander Job Drive (CTF) 72, are stationed in Whidbey Island, Washington, and are presently deployed to Misawa Air Base in Aomori, Japan. All through the deployment, they are going to be conducting maritime patrol and reconnaissance and theater outreach operations throughout the seventh Fleet space of operations.
U.S. seventh Fleet conducts forward-deployed naval operations in assist of U.S. nationwide pursuits within the Indo-Pacific space of operations. Because the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed fleet, seventh Fleet employs 50 to 70 ships and submarines throughout the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans. U.S. seventh Fleet routinely operates and interacts with 35 maritime nations whereas conducting missions to protect and shield a free and open Indo-Pacific area.
