Warships from Cyprus, Greece, Germany, Italy and the United States carried out a multinational exercise in waters south of Limassol on Monday, the results of which were disclosed on Thursday in a statement from the national guard.

The drill, named “Cyprus Arrow”, was part of wider naval operations being conducted in the Levant.

The exercise brought together the National Guard’s offshore patrol vessel Ioannides, the Greek frigate Nikiforos Fokas, the American destroyer Paul Ignatius, the Italian frigate Carabiniere and the German frigate Baden-Wurttemberg.

According to the announcement, participating units carried out tactical movements, advanced manoeuvres, technical exercises and communications drills, with cooperation and coordination procedures tested at multinational level.

The same day saw a separate bilateral exercise held between the National Guard’s naval command and the Italian navy.

Known as PASSEX, the drill involved the Ioannides and the Carabiniere, the latter supported by its EH-101 helicopter.

During the bilateral exercise, crews practised communications procedures alongside techniques for identifying and verifying the identity of a suspicious vessel.

A consensual reconnaissance exercise was also carried out, within which mutual boardings between the two vessels took place and prescribed control procedures were followed.

The presence of vessels from Nato member states alongside the Cypriot national guard underlines the degree of interoperability sought between the participating fleets.