Go Bold #57: Commodore Trevor MacLean on Exercise Cutlass Fury 2023

Our focus for this episode is Exercise Cutlass Fury, a biennial Canadian Navy-led multi-national exercise that provides an opportunity for allied forces to train in a joint maritime environment. This training includes anti-submarine warfare, air defence, and surface warfare to name a few.Joining for this episode is Commodore Trevor MacLean of the Royal Canadian Navy. Commodore MacLean is the Commander of Canadian Fleet Atlantic, and he was the senior officer at sea leading Exercise Cutlass Fury 23. The principle focus of Exercise Cutlass Fury is anti-submarine warfare (ASW) but it's certainly not limited to that alone. Also exercised is air and maritime integration, and interoperability between Allies and joint elements.The exercise happened in September, and there were approximately 1,400 participating sailors, soldiers, and aviators from the armed forces of Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.Eight ships from the Royal Canadian Navy and US Navy took part this year. Canadian ships included HMCS Charlottetown, HMCS Fredericton, HMCS Max Bernays, HMCS Glace Bay, HMCS Moncton, and for a short time the Victoria class submarine HMCS Windsor. US Navy ships comprised the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Porter (DDG 78) and USS James E. Williams (DDG 95), and a US Navy Virginia class attack submarine. Also participating was the support ship USNS William McLean.In addition, multiple classes and types of aircraft participated, including the CP-140 Aurora and CH-148 Cyclone from Canada, the P-8 Poseidon from the UK, the P-3 Orion from Germany, and the Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft from France. There was a lot to the exercise, but some key things to listen for include the opportunity for the Royal Canadian Navy to use one of its new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel's as a target launching platform; using the Royal Canadian Navy's Distributed Mission Operations Center (DMOC) in the exercise; and exercising Link 11 and Link 16 connectivity.You'll also hear about the Royal Canadian Navy's need to modernize its Halifax class so it stays relevant into the future, and you'll hear about the distributed training that's planned for the future.It's a great chat with a lot of insight, so we thank Commodore MacLean for his time, and we hope you'll enjoy this episode of Go Bold!