French, Italian Navies Test Coordinated Maritime Presence Concept

The French Navy’s High Seas Patroller (PHM) Commandant Ducuing and the Italian frigate Marceglia were both deployed to the Gulf o Guinea to test the Coordinated Maritime Presence (CMP) concept first launched in 2020.

Eight complex exercises were carried out in around ten hours of cooperation, demonstrating the very good level of interoperability of the two European navies, the French defense ministry said in a statement.

The CMP concept is being tested in the Gulf of Guinea, where it aims to strengthen the exchange of information between European navies and to pool their support for states bordering the Gulf of Guinea. This coordination aims to enhance the deployment of European buildings in the region by distributing the patrols in separate areas.

The two ships began their interaction in the middle of the night of October 2-3 with a scenario of anti-ship wrestling. The objective was the same for the two units: to reach in the early morning a known position, simulating a strategic island, without being detected by the other building. After an intense night of tactical vigilance, the exercise ended in the morning with fictitious missile fire.

The day continued with a shooting exercise (GUNEX). The two vessels successively engaged floating targets launched by Commandant Ducuing. In the middle of the day, the French and Italian visiting teams successively went to the other building to practice flag investigations and search for illicit products on board. The PHM took the opportunity of this visit to carry out a police fire on the front of the bow of the Marceglia and thus conduct an exercise as close as possible to real conditions. As for the Italian visiting team, it was in a rope way from the on-board helicopter that they boarded the PHM.

Finally, after presentation maneuvers for refueling at sea, the day ended with a tactical evolution exercise allowing the two ships to conclude their meeting.