Western allies join US' experimental drone task force in Middle East
Task Force 59 is now fully operationally capable, Fifth Fleet commander Vice Adm. Brad Cooper told an audience of Navy personnel in Washington on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON — Western allies of the United States have contributed new military staff to the Fifth Fleet’s experimental Task Force 59 in Bahrain in recent months, US Navy officials said on Tuesday.
France, the Netherlands and Germany have recently sent military attachés to join the task force’s headquarters to work alongside personnel from the US, UK and Canada, Fifth Fleet commander Vice Adm. Brad Cooper told attendees at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium in Arlington, Virginia.
The unit, which has been experimenting with commercially available unmanned drones to help the US Navy surveil the region’s waterways since October 2021, is now fully operationally capable, Cooper announced Tuesday.
In December, the Navy’s surface forces chief Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener approved a plan for the Fifth Fleet to place junior officers — lieutenants and lieutenant commanders — in charge of squadrons of unmanned vessels paired with manned ships over the coming months.
