The Abraham Accords set in motion enhanced maritime security and defense capabilities in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The UAE, Bahrain, the U.S. and Israel cooperated in a five day exercise in the Red Sea to reinforce defense and security relationships in the maritime domain,.
Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of NAVCENT, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, said: “It is exciting to see U.S. forces training with regional partners to enhance our collective maritime security capabilities. Maritime collaboration helps safeguard freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade, which are essential to regional security and stability.”
Last week, Israeli Air Force F-15s escorted two US B-1B strategic heavy bombers and a KC-10 refueler over Israeli airspace on their way to the Gulf.
It was the second such flight in two weeks.
According to an IDF statement, it was “a significant step in maintaining the security of the skies of the State of Israel and the Middle East”.
Last month, the IDF held their Blue Flag exercise with seven other air forces, including the USAF, the RAF and other European partners, which including Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
As one source noted: “More joint military exercises among Abraham Accord partners are also anticipated in the future.”
The U.S. Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain.
During my two visits to Bahrain in 2019, I had a chance to talk about the evolving defense and security capabilities being reshaped in the region and in October 2019 provided a presentation on the final day of the BIDEC 2019 Conference.
One of the subjects which I raised during my presentation was the coming of maritime autonomous systems and the value to Bahrain of such systems,.
Significant investments are being made in Bahrain in science and technology, and applications to he maritime autonomous systems domain make a great deal of sense.
Also, the ISR capabilities which such systems can provide to Bahrain as a pillar for their evolving information base for security and defense also make a great deal of sense as well.
Source: sldinfo
