In waters off the coast of Peru, the Peruvian Navy (MGP, in Spanish) oceanographic research vessel BAP Carrasco attempts to find a lost submarine on the seabed. After locating the naval unit, service members deploy an autonomous underwater vehicle to capture videos and photographs of the submarine. Meanwhile, units on the sea surface prepare for rescue.
This was one of the trainings as part of Silent Forces Exercise (SIFOREX) 2021, which took place September 20-24 in the Mar de Grau, with nearly 1,500 troops and 15 naval and aeronaval units of the navies of Peru, the United States, Colombia, and Mexico. Germany, Australia, Ecuador, Spain, and Italy took part in SIFOREX 2021 as observers.
SIFOREX 2021 took place simultaneously with multinational exercise UNITAS LXII, which began on September 27, and during the bicentennial of Peru’s independence.
SIFOREX, in its 12th edition, is an anti-submarine warfare operations exercise to develops strategies and tactics with diesel-electric submarines. The exercise also features anti-surface warfare operations, as well as search and rescue missions for lost submarines, offering a unique opportunity for crews to consolidate their expertise. Among the different scenarios, participants simulated situations to train in evasion procedures against surface and air units, and to improve attack procedures under different threats.
“For the Colombian Navy, it is a great honor to be here participating in submarine search and rescue exercises. It is a great experience that we can transfer to our experience aboard submarines in Cartagena,” Colombian Navy Commander Jaime Andrés Zambrano Gómez, commander of the submarine ARC Indomable, said in an MGP video posted on the institution’s Facebook.
“As a Spanish citizen and as a sailor, I am proud to have received the invitation from the Peruvian Navy to participate in this exercise and to be able to observe the exercises firsthand and exchange experiences with other countries’ navies,” Spanish Navy Lieutenant Pablo Martínez Truchado said in the same video.
Peru deployed two submarines, four surface ships, two fixed-wing aircraft, and two helicopters. For its part, the United States contributed a maritime patrol aircraft, a guided missile destroyer with two helicopters, and a nuclear-propelled submarine. Colombia arrived with a submarine and a light frigate, while Mexico deployed its long-range oceanic patrol vessel.
