RIYADH – The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF), Royal Saudi Naval Force (RSNF),U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), and US Air Forces Central(AFCENT) conducted joint air operations in support of maritime surfacewarfare (AOMSW) exercise in the Arabian Gulf over the weekend.
America’s guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) alsoparticipated in the exercise.
Winston S. Churchill operated with U.S. Navy patrol coastal ships USSSquall (PC 7), USS Firebolt (PC 10), Coast Guard patrol boats USCGC Monomoy(WPB 1326), USCGC Maui (WPB 1304), USCGC Wrangell (WPB 1332), Royal SaudiNaval Force corvette HMS Badr (612), Royal Saudi Air Force F-15SA fighterjets, U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets, a U.S. Navy MH-60RSea Hawk helicopter, a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft and U.S. Air ForceE-3 Sentry aircraft.
As an anti-submarine tactical air controller aboard a guided-missiledestroyer, it is rare to control this many aircraft,” said OperationsSpecialist 1st Class Tyree Morgan, assigned to Winston S. Churchill.“Exercises like these enhance my skills for future maritime operations.”
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The U.S. Navy routinely integrates surface and aviation units to train andenhance coalition forces. Previous exercises incorporated the U.S. AirForce AC-130 gunships, U.S. Army attack helicopters and aircraft from theUnited Arab Emirates Joint Aviation Command.
Earlier this month, a joint military exercise coded ‘Hawk’s Claws 2/ 2020’between the Saudi Royal Land Forces and the US forces was held at theNorthwestern zone.
