Saudi Arabia launches ‘Red Wave 5’ naval drill off Jeddah

The Red Wave 5 exercises started on Monday, with the participation of several countries.

It is a mixed naval exercise led by the Western Fleet, with the participation of the countries bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, namely Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Yemen, and observers from Somalia.

The exercise witnessed the participation of the Royal Saudi Land Forces, the Royal Saudi Air Force, and naval units from the Saudi Border Guard.

The exercise’s commander, Naval Staff Major General Yahya bin Muhammad al-Asiri, stated that the goal of the exercise is to achieve maritime security in the Red Sea, improve military cooperation, unify concepts in war operations, and exchange combat experiences between the participating countries’ units to raise their readiness and defense abilities.

Given the importance of the Red Sea to the world’s countries as an important economic corridor, this leads to the final strategic aim of establishing maritime security and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.