Portugal-led multinational exercise Contex-Phibex 21 kicked off on 3 May off the Atlantic coast.
According to a press release issued by the Portuguese Navy, 1500 personnel and 6 warships participate in the exercise, including Portugal, the U.S., Spain and Italy. The exercise is scheduled to last until 14 May.
The CONTEX-PHIBEX 21 exercise is a naval and amphibious exercise that aims to train and improve the skills of the Portuguese Naval Force, together with the armed forces of other countries, to respond to crisis scenarios.
In this context, various skills are trained such as surveillance and interdiction of maritime spaces, amphibious disembarkation, special forces operations, response to multi-threat scenarios (aerial, underwater and surface), refuelling at sea and, even, the operation of autonomous vehicles.
In the CONTEX-PHIBEX 21 various means of the Portuguese Navy participate, such as the ships Álvares Cabral, Figueira da Foz, Sines, Tridente, Cassiopeia and Pegasus, as well as a Marine Force, the Detachment of Special Actions, the Approach Platoon and the Detachment of Sapper Divers Nº1 and Nº2. The exercise also includes the participation of the amphibious vessel USS Carter Hall and the aircraft MV22, of the United States Navy, the ITS Antonio Marceglia, the Italian Navy, and the ESPS ships Admiral Juan de Bornón and ESPS Patiño, of the Spanish Navy.
This exercise contributes significantly to the maintenance of the readiness and interoperability standards of the participating units, as well as the cohesion of all the forces and commands involved, namely the Portuguese Naval Force.
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