US Navy adds new task force to patrol Red Sea

Jared Szuba

Apr 14, 2022

Navy Persian Gulf — This handout image released by the US Naval Forces Central Command on Jan. 31, 2022 shows Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa (C), Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Prime Minister of Bahrain, and Vice Admiral Brad Cooper (L), commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, arriving at the pier at Naval Support Activity Bahrain. — MARK THOMAS MAHMOD/AFP via Getty Images

The US will establish a new multinational task force to patrol the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the commander of US Navy forces in the Middle East said today.

Task Force 153 of the US-led Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) will patrol the waterway between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait to the waters off the Yemen-Oman border, Fifth Fleet commander Vice Adm. Brad Cooper told reporters in a call from his headquarters in Bahrain.

The new task force will include two to eight vessels at any given time, and while Cooper said he doesn’t expect it to add to the number of ships focused on security in Middle Eastern waters, it will help make patrols more efficient.

Combined Task Force 153 will be the fourth joint task force of the CMF, which was established in 2002 as an international naval coalition to combat trafficking, terrorism and piracy in the region.