• The United Arab Emirates withdrew from a US-led Middle East maritime security coalition  after evaluating its security relationships.

• The Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) is headquartered at the US naval base in Bahrain, working on security, counter-terrorism and counter-piracy in the Red Sea and Gulf areas.

• The region contains some of the world’s most important shipping routes where, since 2019, there have been a series of attacks on vessels at times of tension between the United States and Iran.

Combined Maritime Forces (CMF)

• Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) is a multinational naval partnership, which exists to promote security, stability and prosperity across  approximately 3.2 million square miles of international waters, which encompass some of the world’s most important shipping lanes.

• CMF was established in 2001 to counter the threat of international terrorism and later expanded to include counter piracy operations. 

• CMF began with 12 like-minded countries and now includes 38 nations from across the globe.

• CMF’s main focus areas are defeating terrorism, preventing piracy, encouraging regional cooperation, and promoting a safe maritime environment.

CMF has five Combined Task Forces: 

i) CTF 150 (maritime security and counter-terrorism)

ii) CTF 151 (counter piracy)

iii) CTF 152 (Arabian Gulf security and cooperation)

iv) CTF 153 (Red Sea maritime security)

v) CTF 154 (Maritime security training)

CMF has 38 member nations: Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom, United States, and Yemen.

• India formally started cooperation with the Combined Maritime Forces after the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in April 2022. 

• CMF is Commanded by a US Navy Vice Admiral, who also serves as Commander, US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) and US Navy Fifth Fleet. All commands are co-located at US Naval Support Activity Bahrain.

How CMF works?

• CMF nations are united in their desire to uphold the Rules-Based International Order (RBIO) by protecting the free flow of commerce, improving maritime security, and deterring illicit activity by non-state actors in the CMF Area of Operations.

• CMF is a coalition of the willing and does not seek a specific level of participation from any member nation. The contribution from each country, therefore, varies depending on its ability to contribute assets and the availability of those assets at any given time.

• Participation is purely voluntary. No nation is asked to carry out any duty that it is unwilling to conduct. The contribution from each country varies depending on its ability to contribute assets and the availability of those assets at any given time.

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