Turkish Naval Forces to Stay in Gulf of Aden
Turkish parliament’s approval to extend the mandate of Turkish Naval Forces in NATO's operation in the Gulf of Aden for one more year is strategically important, says a report in the Journal of Turkish Weekly. The region is critical for Turkey's foreign trade activities. NATO's international anti-piracy mission, Operation Ocean Shield (OOS), was first approved in 2009. OOS aims to counter piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast while increasing the level of security for commercial vessels. The North Atlantic Council extended its counter-piracy mission in 2014 for two more years, until the end of 2016. Ankara further co-operates…
NATO Counter-Piracy Enhanced Mandate
NATO’s contribution to international efforts to combat piracy off the Horn of Africa and in the Gulf of Aden entered a new phase on 17 August after the North Atlantic Council (NAC) approved Operation Ocean Shield. This new mission builds on the experience gained during Operation Allied Protector, NATO’s previous counter-piracy mission, and develops a distinctive NATO role based on the broad strength of the Alliance by adopting a more comprehensive approach to counter-piracy efforts.
Northrop Grumman to Support Roll-Out of NATO MCCIS
Northrop Grumman has been selected by the NATO C3 Agency (NC3A) to provide hardware and software support services for the roll-out of the Maritime Command and Control Information System (MCCIS) across NATO countries. The MCCIS merges information gathered from satellites, wide area networks, computerized tactical data processors and machine-readable messages to create a common operating environment for maritime and other assets. It is integrated by NATO support staff and includes commercial-off-the-shelf products together with NATO-developed applications. The MCCIS is installed in every NATO maritime headquarters, which includes more than 300 workstations.
