The second-largest naval exercise in the world has ended across the Middle East.
International Maritime Exercise/Cutlass Express 2023 is the largest multinational training event in the Middle East, involving 7,000 personnel from more than 50 nations and international organizations committed to preserving the rules-based international order and strengthening regional maritime security cooperation.
More than 7,000 personnel from 50 nations with two dozen ships and board and search teams committed to IMX and, although the focus was principally on naval warfare, the RAF also provided aerial support from Cyprus.
Terrorism, smuggling, sea mines and aerial drone attacks were among the varied list of potential threats that the sailors learned how to tackle.
Thirty different autonomous systems were rolled out during the exercise, including, for the first time in the Middle East, the world’s longest-range electric aircraft, the K1000ULE surveillance drone – capable of missions lasting more than one day.
