Seychelles military in major exercise abroad |27 January 2015

The Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF) will be taking part in Cutlass Express 2015, a major military exercise which starts tomorrow in Mauritius.

Two of Seychelles Coast Guard’s (SCG) patrol ships, PS Constant and PS Andromache, left Port Victoria on Friday for the Mauritian capital, Port Louis. The two ships, with a total crew of 66 service personnel, are expected to arrive in Port Louis today. They will be joined on Thursday by a Seychelles Air Force (SAF) Dornier with four crew members.

Local military medical trainers and maritime operation coordination staff will also be taking part alongside the sailors and airmen.
The Seychelles military contingent is being led by Lieutenant Colonel Simon Laurencine, SCG Naval Wing Commander. He is also accompanied on this trip by the force chaplain, Major Louis Agathine.

A communique from the SPDF said this deployment is a milestone for the force and Seychelles as it is the first time that such military assets and personnel travel outside the country for a major exercise.

“It presents an opportunity for the SPDF to evaluate and demonstrate its ability to deploy and sustain forces over such distances for an extended period,” said the communique.

The transit to and from Mauritius will also present an opportunity for the SCG and SAF to carry out coordinated patrol in the southern portion of the Seychelles Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as well as coordinate any sightings within Mauritian waters to the Mauritian authorities.
Both vessels are expected back in the country on February 10.

Cutlass Express is an annual multi-lateral exercise organised and sponsored by the United States Africa Command (Africom). It focuses on addressing piracy through information sharing and coordinated operations among international navies.

This year, the practical portion of the exercise will be conducted at three operation areas simultaneously: Djibouti, Mauritius and Mozambique. The Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO) scenarios will revolve around themes of piracy, illegal fishing and illicit traffic.

The exercise starts tomorrow with the first three days devoted to command post exercises and shore-based training while the remaining three days will be devoted to practical with actual deployment of ships and aircraft in the vicinity of the three operation areas.

In Mauritius, Seychelles will be taking part alongside military and security personnel from Comoros, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and the United States.

Besides Mauritius, Seychelles is the only regional force that is contributing assets to the exercise in Port Louis.
Last year, the Indian Ocean portion of the exercise was conducted in Seychelles.

The accompanying photographs show the PS Constant, PS Andromache and the Dornier aircraft that will be taking part in the Cutlass Express 2015.