Combined Maritime Forces Public Affairs 

MANAMA, Bahrain – Saudi-led Combined Task Force (CTF) 152 of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) concluded Exercise Gulf Falcon, an exercise focused on a Search and Rescue scenario between different coalition navies, June 4. 

Exercise Gulf Falcon, led by CTF 152, a key task force under the Combined Maritime Forces, saw active participation from the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, United States Navy, Royal Bahraini Naval Forces, and the Saudi Border Guard. The exercise fostered collaboration among regional nations in a search-and-rescue simulation, thereby enhancing the capacity of the CMF and GCC in the region.

The Royal Saudi Naval Forces and Saudi Border Guard initiated the Search and Rescue Exercise, focusing on responding to a Man Overboard (MoB) report and launching a small-scale Search and Rescue operation. Two RSNF and SBG vessels positioned themselves three Nautical Miles apart. Vessel One would then launch a simulation dummy and relay the approximate location to their partner vessel in real-time. Vessel Two would respond to the MoB report and sail toward the area to commence a search. Once the dummy was sighted, Vessel Two would recover it by launching a small sea boat or by close maneuvering the ship and collecting the dummy over the side of the vessel. This real-time communication was crucial in strengthening the effective communication skills between units and CTF152. 

On the same day, the United States Navy and the Royal Bahraini Naval Forces conducted the same scenario in a different area of the Arabian Gulf.

The challenge of this exercise is to respond to the Search and Rescue report effectively and promptly and to lead the unit in determining the zone reported to CTF152, in addition to organizing between maritime units that operate in the region.

“Exercise Gulf Falcon was a great success, which can be attributed to the strong cooperation between CMF member nations,” stated Captain Assem Alamri, Commander CTF 152. “I am extremely proud of the work done during this exercise. It proves the value of working as a multinational team to improve SAR capacities.” 

CTF 152 is one of five task forces under Combined Maritime Forces, the world’s largest international naval partnership. CTF 152’s mission is to counter smuggling activities, disrupt activities that support terrorism using the maritime commons, and support legal fishing in the Arabian Gulf.