US Carrier Strike Group conducts exercise with Egyptian Navy


According to information published by the U.S. Department of Defense on July 5, 2021, the Egyptian Navy guided-missile frigate ENS Taba (FFG 916) and Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKE CSG) conducted a passing exercise (PASSEX) in the Red Sea.
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Russian Vyborg Shipyard laid the Purga ice class coastguard ship of project 23550 925 001 Aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), left, Egyptian Navy guided-missile frigate ENS Taba (FFG 916), center, and guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (Picture source: U.S. Department of Defense)


A PASSEX is an exercise in which multiple ships operate in close vicinity to practice joint evolutions to improve knowledge, navigation skills and interoperability.

The PASSEX commenced with Taba, the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) performing divisional tactics and maneuvers in formation, strengthening the crews’ abilities to operate together and increasing ship handling skills.

The IKE CSG is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points.

USS Gallery (FFG-26) is the eighteenth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class of guided-missile frigates. Ordered from Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, on 28 February 1977 as part of the FY77 program, Gallery was laid down on 17 May 1980, launched on 20 December 1980, co-sponsored by Mrs. Philip D. Gallery and Mrs. Daniel V. Gallery, and commissioned on 5 December 1981, commanded by Commander Norman Stuart Scott. Decommissioned and stricken on 14 June 1996, she was transferred to Egypt on 25 September 1996 as Taba (F916).

The Oliver Hazard Perry class is a class of guided-missile frigates named after the U.S. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of the naval Battle of Lake Erie.

The Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships were produced in 445-foot (136 m) long "short-hull" (Flight I) and 453-foot (138 m) long "long-hull" (Flight III) variants.

The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were designed primarily as anti-aircraft and anti-submarine warfare guided-missile warships intended to provide open-ocean escort of amphibious warfare ships and merchant ship convoys in moderate threat environments in a potential war with the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries.