Naval leaders from the United States, the United Kingdom, and France signed a trilateral agreement on June 1 meant to increase coordination for anti-submarine warfare activities as they operate in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red, Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean, the Navy said on June 5.
These naval regions all fall within the 5th Fleet area of operations.
The agreement was signed by Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, Commander of French Submarine and Strategic Oceanic Forces Vice Adm. Louis-Michel Guillaume, and Commander of Operations of the Royal Navy Rear Adm. Robert Tarrant at Donegan’s headquarters in Bahrain.
The U.S. Navy highlighted this came after the heads of the U.S., British, and French Navies signed a document on March 27 affirming their commitment to enhanced interoperability.
“This agreement expands upon the 2017 trilateral maritime talks between the leaders of our respective navies and codifies a practical framework on how we will operate in the 5th Fleet area of operations when it comes to coordinating anti-submarine warfare operations. This agreement lays the groundwork for executing more operations together and enhancing cooperation in the undersea domain,” Donegan said in a statement.
“Our nations have operated regularly in close cooperation for many years, but the agreement signed today, which followed the trilateral meeting of our respective Chiefs of Navy in March, allows our navies to reach a standardized level in anti-submarine warfare coordination across the region,” Guillaume added.
“We thus will have right away in the 5th Fleet area of operations a high-level basis of cooperation to improve our operational results in undersea warfare.”
The Navy noted all three navies regularly operate together within the 5th Fleet: France deployed its aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle twice to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Inherent Resolve; a French admiral commanded NAVCENT’s Task Force (TF) 50; a Royal Navy admiral assumed command of TF 50 in November 2016; and both navies have had ships serve within TF 50 and with the region’s Combined Maritime Forces.