U.S. Navy Welcomes Partners, Kicks off FRUKUS 2011

By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Samantha Thorpe, USS Harry S. Truman Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Ships from Russia, France and the United Kingdom arrived at Naval Station Norfolk to participate in FRUKUS 2011 with the U.S. Navy off the coast of Virginia, June 20.

FRUKUS stands for the participating countries – France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States - and is a two-week interoperability exercise aimed to improve maritime security through open dialogue and increased training between the participating navies.

"FRUKUS 2011 provides the opportunity for personnel of all participating nations to engage in realistic and challenging maritime training to build experience, cooperation and teamwork," said U.S. Navy Capt. Peter Demane, commander, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 26.

FRUKUS consists of two phases: ashore and at-sea. While ashore, Sailors from each ship will participate in training areas including damage control, fire fighting and ship handling. The at-sea portion, which begins next week, will provide critical training in maritime domain awareness, anti-piracy and maritime interdiction operations. A shore-based multinational combined task group staff will provide command and control for the ships during the at-sea phase.

Plenary sessions are scheduled to be conducted in parallel with the at-sea phase, where flag and senior officers from each country will attend daily discussions about maritime topics of interest to participants.

Planning for FRUKUS 2011 began in 2010 and included close coordination from representatives from each nation's navies and several defense agencies.

"We started planning for FRUKUS 2011 in December," said Lt. Jay Davis, staff planning officer for DESRON 26. "We worked closely with our partner nations to ensure the exercise is safe and successful."

Participating forces from the U.S. Navy include Commander Carrier Strike Group 10, Destroyer Squadron 26, and USS James E. Williams (DDG 95). International participants include the FS Ventose (F 733) from France, RFS Admiral Chabanenko (DD 650) from Russia, and HMS Dauntless (D 33) from the United Kingdom.