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Thursday, July 10, 2008

U.S. 5-day exercise focused on securing Gulf oil

ABU DHABI — The U.S. Fifth Fleet concluded a five-day exercise with Bahrain and Britain designed to protect maritime assets. Officials said the exercise, titled "Exercise Stake Net," focused on protecting energy assets from attack.

"The aim of Exercise Stake Net is to practice the tactics and procedures of protecting maritime infrastructure such as gas and oil installations," Fifth Fleet Commodore Peter Hudson, commander of Combined Task Force-152, said.

Officials said the exercise, which ended on July 8, took place in the central and southern Gulf in an effort to improve interoperability between naval forces, Middle East Newsline reported. Bahrain has been the only Gulf Cooperation Council state involved in CFT-152.

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In June 2008, Bahrain relayed command of CFT-152 to Hudson. The Royal Bahrain Navy contributed RBNS Al Taweelah to the exercise.

"Exercise Stake Net is very important because there is a need for coordination among Gulf nations and coalition partners to provide protection for the critical oil and gas infrastructure in the region," Hudson said.

Over the last month, Iran has repeatedly threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz if attacked. Bahrain contains the headquarters of the Fifth Fleet.

"MSO[maritime security operations] help develop security in the maritime environment, which promotes stability and global prosperity," the Fifth Fleet said in a statement on July 7. "These operations complement the counterterrorism and security efforts of regional nations and seek to disrupt violent extremists use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material."

The Gulf exercise took place less than a week after a U.S. Navy missile defense test in the Mediterranean Sea and Gulf. The navy conducted what officials termed an unprecedented five-day exercise — which included the USN Benfold destroyer in the Gulf and the USN Russell destroyer in the Mediterranean — that tested the operability of a network of Aegis missile defense systems throughout the Middle East. The navy plans to install Aegis systems in 18 cruisers and destroyers by 2009.

"During the exercise, the ships will work with one another in detecting, tracking, sharing information and engaging a simulated ballistic missile by sharing data via a number of paths," the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet said in a briefing paper prior to the June 28 exercise.



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