US starts largest exercise since war

Manama: The US navy is staging major war games in the Gulf involving two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and their strike groups in the most intense military buildup since the 2003 war on Iraq.

"This marks the first time the (carriers) John C. Stennis and Dwight D. Eisenhower strike groups have operated together in a joint exercise while deployed to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet," Lieutenant Commander Charlie Brown, spokesman for the Bahrain-based US Naval Central Command, told Gulf News yesterday. The sea and air exercises will be conducted amid growing tension in the region following Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines, including one woman.

But Brown denied that the exercise was aimed at exerting pressure on Iran or any other country.

Ability

"This exercise demonstrates the importance of the ability of both strike groups to plan and conduct dual task force operations as part of the US's long-standing commitment to assuring friends and allies and to maintaining maritime security and stability in this region," he said.

Two air wings from the aircraft carriers will conduct air warfare exercises, while the surface components will conduct exercises in anti-submarine, anti-surface and mine warfare, the US navy said.

The Stennis strike group arrived on Tuesday in the Gulf under the escort of the guided-missile cruiser Antietam.

According to Brown, the French aircraft carrier group Charles de Gaulle - in the Arabian Sea since mid-March - will not be involved in the joint exercises.

"The Charles de Gaulle is currently outside the Gulf and will not be part of the exercises," he said.

But, he added that the two US and the French carriers worked together, supporting operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

On Monday, Lieutenant Commander Bertrand Bonneau, chief of press for the French navy, said the Charles de Gaulle would be restricted to actions involving Afghanistan and would enter the Gulf waters only at the end of April for a port call in Abu Dhabi.