The guided-missile destroyer USS Russell, left, sails past the Italian frigate ITS Alpino, center, and aircraft carrier ITS Cavour in the South China Sea, Sept. 9, 2024. (John Miller/U.S. Navy)
The U.S. Navy drilled alongside Italian warships this week in the South China Sea, the third time the two allies have worked together in the Indo-Pacific this year, the service announced Thursday
An Australian P-8 Poseidon aircraft also took part in the four-day maneuvers, according to the Navy.
The unnamed drill ran Sunday through Wednesday and included the U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Russell, an Australian P-8A Poseidon aircraft and the Italian navy’s aircraft carrier ITS Cavour, frigate ITS Alpino and multipurpose combat ship ITS Raimondo Montecuccoli, according to a U.S. 7th Fleet news release Thursday.
The Cavour and Alpino on Aug. 9 joined the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln for a drill somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, a first for the U.S. and Italian navies, although the two regularly train together elsewhere in the world.
The two ships drilled together again Aug. 18 through 21 on similar scenarios with the guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey in the Philippine Sea, according to an Aug. 22 release from 7th Fleet.
“These multilateral exercises are a concrete demonstration of the advances we are making alongside our allies and partners in the region,” 7th Fleet commander Vice Adm. Fred Kacher said in the Thursday release. “They present dynamic opportunities to hone our skills in one of the most complex maritime regions in the world.”
The South China Sea is almost entirely claimed by China, which sometimes aggressively asserts its claims over those of other nations in the region, including the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Besides an international hotspot, it is also a critical world trade route.
In 2023, among other commerce, 10 billion barrels of petroleum and petroleum products and 6.7 trillion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas passed through the South China Sea, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
This week’s exercise was meant to improve cooperation and readiness between the three countries and “reassure regional allies and partners of continued U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” 7th Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Jamie Moroney told Stars and Stripes by email Thursday.
She did not provide a precise location for the exercise other than the South China Sea.
A spokesperson for the Italian carrier strike group did not immediately respond to Stars and Stripes’ email request Thursday afternoon.
During the exercise, the ships and aircraft practiced fixed-wing air defense, anti-submarine warfare, general tactics, surface warfare and command and control scenarios, according to the news release. They also exchanged subject matter experts between the ships.
“This multilateral exercise has been another great opportunity to highlight the professionalism of our crews and the ability to join, train and be ready to operate together, projecting our forces for months, away from home,” Rear Adm. Giancarlo Ciappina, the Italian carrier strike group commander, said in the release.
The Italian strike group is amid an “operational campaign in the region,” Ciappina said in the Aug. 22 news release. The campaign goals are to regularly train with allies while “ensuring security at sea and promoting economic prosperity through the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.
The U.S. and its European allies have steadily pivoted manpower, resources and attention to the Indo-Pacific over the past decade, primarily due to concerns over China, North Korea and Russia.
