Representatives of the Tanzanian and US armies have called for increased joint training following the conclusion of the Cutlass Express maritime exercises. The closing ceremony took place at Lugalo Golf Club in Dar es Salaam on February 21, 2025.
The Cutlass Express maritime exercises began on February 10, 2025, and included participants from Comoros, Djibouti, France, Georgia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Madagascar, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Tunisia, Morocco, and the United States.
The exercises featured classroom training and the exchange of tactics, techniques, and procedures on maritime safety and security. They also tested communication capabilities between maritime operations centers across participating nations.
“We really see you [Tanzania] as an anchor of security and stability in East Africa. And there’s no shortage of challenges in East Africa,” said Lieutenant General John Brennan, the Deputy Commander of U.S. Africa Command.
“You have piracy, counterterrorism issues, illicit fishing. But it takes a network to defeat a network. And Cutlass Express is a key node in that network. With all the maritime operations centers functioning all the time, the exercise is a great vehicle to test that. But we need to push it to the limit and do it more often,” he emphasized.
The Chief of Operations and Training of the Tanzania People’s Defence Force, Major General Ibrahim Mhona, also emphasized the importance of the exercises in fostering coordination between different countries, particularly in addressing common security threats such as piracy and terrorism.
“Tanzania is ready to continue hosting these exercises because, as the host and since the exercise takes place in Tanzania, we have a large number of officers and soldiers participating. Therefore, we are the biggest beneficiaries in terms of training,” Mhona said.
The training exercises were conducted alongside the land-based drills of Justified Accord 2025, which took place in both Tanzania and Kenya.
