The U.S. and Indonesian navies concluded three days of at-sea bilateral operations in the South China Sea from April 12-14. The operations included the U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92) and the Indonesian Navy, known as Tentera Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Laut (TNI-AL), corvette KRI Bung Tomo (FF 357), focused on building interoperability and strengthening relationships.
The U.S.-Indonesia bilateral operations focused on division tactics, a passing exercise, and formation sailing, provided the U.S. and Indonesian navies an opportunity to exercise together, increase interoperability and work together towards common maritime goals.
U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92) Conducts Underway Operations with Indonesian Navy corvette KRI Bung Tomo (FF 357)/caption]
“This is a tremendous opportunity for our crew and our country to be able to work at sea alongside our partners and I am proud to be a part of it,” said Cmdr. Erik Roberts, commanding officer of Momsen. “We’re committed to strengthening interoperability with like-minded regional partners to ensure our forces can operate together effectively.”
Momsen is assigned to Commander, Task Force 71/Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15. CTF 71/DESRON 15 is the Navy’s largest forward-deployed DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force. U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet is the largest forward-deployed fleet and routinely operates and interacts with 35 maritime nations while conducting missions to preserve and protect critical regional partnerships.
