An international maritime exercise involving 10 nations will take place off the coast of Morocco July 11-16.

The Department of Defense announced the naval maneuvers July 1, although the Moroccan press began publicizing "MEDSHARK/Majestic Eagle '04," last month.

Morocco is hosting the U.S.-led multinational exercise also involving France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. In addition, Greece will send defense officials to observe the maritime activities that will include live-fire training in Moroccan waters across from the Canary Islands between Casablanca and Agadir.

Called MS/ME04 in military shorthand, the exercise is designed to foster military-to-military relations and to promote interoperability between all the militaries of the participating nations.

MS/ME04 will demonstrate "the combined force capabilities and quick response times of the participating naval, air, undersea and surface warfare groups," according to the July 1 Pentagon news release.

The U.S. commander of the participating forces says, "[A]llied nations will work side-by-side in a realistic and challenging training environment," during the five-day exercise. Vice Admiral Harry Ulrich, commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet and Striking and Support Forces in NATO (see http://www.c6f.navy.mil/index.htm), said it is rare for coalition maritime forces to have a chance "to refine the complex skill necessary to prepare for and conduct integrated operations with multiple aircraft carriers and other vessels." It will be an opportunity to demonstrate "the collective powers and versatility" of combined NATO maritime forces, he said.

MS/ME04 is using a NATO command-and-control structure drawing on some 20,000 personnel attached to 20 ships and submarines as well as aircraft affiliated with Ulrich's command in Naples, Italy.

Morocco will lend two frigates and close to 20 aircraft to the exercise and around 750 personnel in addition to opening the Cap Draa training area in the southwestern portion of the country to participants. France will send a destroyer. Italy also will lend a destroyer as well as an aircraft carrier. Portugal will provide vessels as well as F-16 fighter jets and P-3 reconnaissance aircraft. Turkey, the Netherlands and Germany are sending frigates. The British Navy will provide support from one of its aircraft carriers in the Central Atlantic Ocean.

Spain will send an aircraft carrier, fast patrol boats and a frigate, as well as aircraft and a Marine forward air control team. It will also provide logistical support from two of its air bases that will be open for participant access.

The United States is providing support in the form of aircraft carriers, submarines, cruisers and other vessels as well as maritime patrol and tanker aircraft.

Majestic Eagle is at the tail end of broader U.S. Navy exercise taking place in multiple regions around the world known as "Summer Pulse '04: Presence With a Purpose." It is part of a Navy demonstration to show that as many as eight aircraft carriers can be called upon for a national emergency as part of its Fleet Response Plan.