The multipurpose frigate class M FF-15 Almirante White Whitewashed and the ocean patrol vessel OPV-83 Sailor Fuentealba and the maritime action boat LAM-30 Casma of the Third Naval Zone of the Chilean Navy They sailed alongside the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) of the United States Navy on its way to the western mouth of the Strait of Magellan after landing on June 4 in Punta Arenas.
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the class Nimitzas published by Infodefensa.comsailed on April 25 from the port of Norfolk in the direction of Japan to relieve the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) and leads the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 10 integrated by the destroyer USS Porter (DDG-78) of the class Arleigh Burke and the fleet tanker USNS John Lenthall (T-AO-189) of the class Henry J. Kaiser.
As part of its circumnavigation of South America, the US task force has developed the exercise Southern Seas 2024 which seeks to improve interoperability and strengthen ties with the maritime forces of the region. Southern Seas 2024 It will be the tenth version of this exercise that began in 2007 and the third time in which the aircraft carrier, which was present in the 2008 and 2015 editions, participates.
The operation also has two dozen officers from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom and the United States who receive instruction from professors from the Naval War College of the United States aboard the aircraft carrier that was built by Newport News Shipbuilding and which has been in service since July 1992.
NATO procedures
On a one-day call to the city of Punta Arenas, the US aircraft carrier received a visit from the Minister of National defense, Maya Fernandez; the commander in chief of the Navy, admiral Juan Andrés de la Maza; representatives of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and authorities of the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Region.
Regarding the presence of CSG 10 in the country, Admiral De la Maza indicated in a video: “The Chilean Navy, with the frigate Whitewashed Whitehas received this North American flotilla that begins its movement through the Strait of Magellan en route to Valparaíso and subsequently continues north until arriving at the port of San Diego.”
“In these transits we take advantage of interacting with navies more advanced than us, we test all our capabilities and this is how during the movement towards the north we will interact not only with the frigate Whitewashed White but the frigate will also join in the Puerto Montt area Cochrane and closer to Valparaíso we are going to incorporate some other ships from our Squadron,” explained Admiral De la Maza.
The commander in chief of the Chilean Navy pointed out that this type of exercise, like the one carried out last week with the helicopter carrier LHD Tonnerre and the frigate Guépratte of the mission Jeanne d’Arc 2024 of the French National Navyallow you to train procedures and strengthen ties.
“We practice our procedures, which are procedures that are generally used by most navies, which are NATO or NATO procedures, which are standard procedures, which allows us to relate and use the same language between both navies, so this is very beneficial. and we are getting the most out of this visit,” he said.
