CUTLASS EXPRESS 2019

Feb. 9, 2019

Indian Talwar-class frigate INS Trikand, a front-line warship of the Indian Navy, participated in a multinational training exercise ‘CUTLASS EXPRESS – 19’ held from 27 January to 6 February 2019. India participated for the first time in the exercise.

About:

Cutlass Express 2019 was the eighth iteration of the annual multinational maritime exercise.
Venue: It was held near Djibouti, Mozambique and the Seychelles.
Participants: Maritime forces from East Africa, West Indian Ocean nations, Europe and the US, as well as several international organisations are participating in the exercise.
Objective: To assess and improve combined maritime law enforcement capacity, promote national and regional security in East Africa. As part of the exercise, forces focussed on areas, such as combat illicit trafficking, piracy and search and rescue operations.
Bodies involved: It was sponsored by US Africa Command (AFRICOM) and conducted by U.S. Naval Forces Africa.
Key firsts of the exercise:
- India participated for the first time in the exercise.
- The Indian Ocean Regional Information Sharing (IORIS) a web-based platform through the European Union Critical Maritime Routes Indian Ocean (CRIMARIO) project was implemented for the first time.