Canadian Armed Forces hosts allies for training exercise off the coast of Halifax

HALIFAX -

Cutlass Fury 2021 – a military operation – is in full swing off the coast of Halifax.

The training exercise onboard HMCS Toronto began on Sept. 6 and involves the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Canadian Air Force and some NATO allies.

“CUTLASS FURY 21 will provide the Royal Canadian Navy an excellent opportunity to train the Canadian Atlantic Fleet, allies, and joint elements in maritime tactical level warfare as part of a multinational task group," said Cmdr. Christopher Robinson with the Canadian Atlantic Fleet.

Robinson says the series of exercises, which is completed every two years, is about training task groups – or collections of ships and aircrafts – to work together, with a focus on anti-submarine warfare.

"So, that's really the focus, but there's so much more than just a single warfare activity no matter where you are. So they practice, on top of that, anti-surface warfare gunnery exercises, incoming missiles and aircraft and all of that kind of stuff," said Robinson.

Malachi Malabre, a naval communicator, says these types of exercises can be lifesaving.

"Training exercises like this, we're able to make sure we know our job and if an error or mistake is made, this is the chance to fix it, to learn more and to stay proficient in our day-to-day tasks," said Malabre.

"We can only expect a high-tempo situation like this to unfold if anything happens, so it's of crucial importance for us to practice at the tempo that we would expect to see things at, and to be able to prepare for that," said Master Seaman Dane Oaks, fire control technician.

Sub-Lt. Breauna Miller, a naval warfare officer, said prior to the exercise, members went through a couple weeks of, what they call, "workup."

"So, we go through all these types of different scenarios that you would have seen today. Just to practice working together as a team so we can be as effective as possible," said Miller.

"It's not so much the technical details of the fight as much as being faced with a set of circumstances, working together, collaborating across ships and aircrafts to come up with a solution, dealing with things that aren't necessarily going the way they wanted them to go. That's where experience comes from," said Robinson.

In a news release, the Maritime Forces Atlantic Public Affairs said the exercise will enhance mutual awareness, inter-operability, and readiness of Canada’s Atlantic Fleet, allied navies, and other joint elements of the Canadian Armed Forces in tactical-level maritime warfare.

Cutlass Fury 2021 will conclude in St. John's, N.L. on Sept. 17.