USNI News

By DZirhan Mahadzir

20 August 2024

Source: https://news.usni.org/2024/08/22/italian-carrier-strike-group-uss-dewey-drill-in-philippine-sea

The Italian Navy aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (CVH-550), right, breaks away from the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey (DDG-105) after a simulated underway replenishment in the Philippine Sea, Aug. 18, 2024. US Navy Photo

The Italian Navy Cavour Carrier Strike Group (CSG) carried out a four-day drill in the Philippine Sea with a U.S. destroyer as it made its way to Japan.

The Cavour CSG – carrier ITS Cavour (CVH-550) and frigate ITS Alpino (F594) – and U.S. Navy destroyer USS Dewey (DDG-105), part of the Japan-based destroyer squadron 15 (DESRON 15) conducted bilateral operations together from Saturday to Wednesday in the Philippine Sea, according to a Wednesday Navy release.

“We are ready and very well prepared to operate with our allies in every part of the globe; we are used to this, since we share common tactics, procedures and command, control and communication systems,” Rear Admiral Giancarlo Ciappina, commander of the Italian Carrier Strike Group, said in the release.

The activity with Dewey was an outstanding training opportunity and another great demonstration of cooperation between Italian and US ships at sea, Ciappina said, adding that conducting such engagements is one of the strategic objectives of the Italian Navy’s operational campaign along with ensuring security at sea and promoting economic prosperity through the Indo-Pacific region.

The two navies conducted fixed-wing air defense training and combined anti-submarine warfare exercises. In addition to cross-functional training across multiple domains, the U.S. and Italian ships also conducted formation exercises and communication drills, according to the release.

“The multilateral operations we conduct with our allies and partners in this theater are strengthening our capabilities and keeping our skillsets sharp,” said Vice Adm. Fred Kacher, commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, in the release. 

“As we recently demonstrated with the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and Italy’s Cavour Carrier Strike Group, both our nations recognize the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific and the role our navies play in preserving the peace and stability here.”

Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) ITS Raimondo Montecuccoli (P432) will soon join the Cavour CSG, making its way through the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii following completion of its participation in the Rim of the Pacific 2024 (RIMPAC 2024) and Pacific Dragon 2024 exercises held in Hawaii.

On Thursday, the Australian government announced that it would invest U.S. $572 million in partnership with Kongsberg Defence Australia to build a factory at Williamtown, New South Wales, for the manufacture and servicing of Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) and Joint Strike Missiles (JSM) to be used by the Australian Defence Force (ADF). 

The Australian factory will be one of only two facilities in the world capable of producing NSM and JSM with the other site in Kongsberg, Norway, according to an Australian release.

The NSM is being progressively equipped on the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) three Hobart class destroyers and seven Anzac class frigates with destroyer HMAS Sydney (DDG42) conducting the first firing by the RAN during RIMPAC 2024. 

The JSM, an evolved air-launched version of the NSM with improved range, capable of engaging ground and naval targets and able to fit in the internal bays of the F-35 Lightning II fighter, will be equipped on the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) F-35A fleet with the majority of the fleet stationed at RAAF Williamtown air base, near where the factory will be built.

The factory will likely be completed by the second of 2026 and will then undergo a certification process before starting production in 2027, Australian Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said during a press conference on Thursday in Canberra. Full-rate production will occur in 2028 with the capacity to produce in excess of 100 missiles a year.

While the initial focus of production would be for the ADF’s stockpile, there would be opportunities for export as the factory will have greater capacity than what is needed by Australia, Conroy said. The factory’s size is to guard against future scenarios for Australia and, secondly, to capitalize on export opportunities, which also included supplying the United States.

“We will have the capacity not just to sustain and refurbish our missiles; we can potentially do that for United States forces who might be positioned in the Indo-Pacific. We haven’t reached agreement on that, but just as we’ve done deep-level maintenance on U.S. Navy Helicopters, just as we’ve swapped out torpedoes for U.S. Navy submarines, there will be opportunities like that in the future,” Conroy said, according to a transcript of the press conference.

Next week will kick off Exercise Super Garuda Shield in Indonesia.

The exercise, led by Indonesia, will be carried out from Monday to Sept. 6 and include the United States, Indonesia, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, United Kingdom, and New Zealand participating in the exercise while Brazil, Brunei, Fiji, Germany, India, Malaysia, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and Vanuatu will participate as observers.

Joint exercises will take place in Situbondo in East Java, Karawang in West Java and Baturaja in South Sumatra according to a U.S. Embassy Jakarta release, which also said that approximately 3,000 personnel will be involved in the exercise, an annual Indonesia-led exercise between the Indonesia National Armed Forces and the United States.

The Japan Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) stated that units from the JSGSDF’s 1st Airborne Brigade and Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade will participate in the drills, while Indonesian units will be from the Indonesian Army’s 2nd Division and Indonesian Marine Corps’ 2nd Brigade, according to a Thursday release.

Troops from the Australian Army’s 1st Brigade and the British Army’s Gurkha Brigade will also take part in the drills. U.S. participation, according to the JGSDF release, will be from the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division and 11th Airborne Division and the I Marine Expeditionary Force (1 MEF).

1 MEF’s forces currently deployed in the region included elements of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) embarked on the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) consisting of amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD-4) and the amphibious dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49) and Marine Rotational Force Darwin 24.3.