The Bahraini-British Joint Military Cooperation Committee met for the 29th time at the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence in London in September 2024. The meeting was co-chaired by Bahrain Minister of Defense Affairs Lt. Gen. Abdullah bin Hassan Al Nuaimi and Chairman of the Middle East Team at the U.K. Ministry of Defence Kashif Shandy. Discussion topics focused on strengthening joint military cooperation between the Bahrain Defense Force and the British Ministry of Defence through continued exchange of military expertise and unifying military concepts and doctrines. Continuing productive military engagements, Bahraini Naval Commander Sheikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad received…
Unipath
Financial stability in the Arabian Gulf region was a major topic during a conference of the Joint Central Banks Governors Committee of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in September 2024. In a speech delivered at the conference in Doha, Governor of Qatar Central Bank Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al Thani highlighted the importance of adopting sound exchange rate policies to ensure long-term financial and economic stability. Exchange rate policies, he recommended, ought to be tailored to the condition of every individual country. He said pegging currencies to the U.S. dollar continues to serve as a reliable monetary instrument…
UNIPATH STAFF The International Maritime Exercise (IMX) assembles maritime forces from dozens of nations to reinforce teamwork, partnerships, integration and interoperability. They practice arresting maritime smugglers, defending sea lanes, disarming mines, launching sea drones and protecting ports. “This exercise brought forward many viewpoints to handle a single situation in various different ways. I am confident that the takeaways of this exercise will serve all the participants in planning and executing various exercises in their respective countries.” ~ Pakistan Navy Commodore Rashid Mahmood Sheikh The February 2025 version of the IMX added another dimension to expand the capabilities of the training…
UNIPATH STAFF | Photos by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Every military maintains a dedicated corps of doctors, nurses and medics to prepare for the inevitability of wounds and injuries. But rare is the chance for such troops, based thousands of kilometers apart in their respective home countries, to share techniques to improve survivability. Bahrain provided such an opportunity for cooperation and integration by holding a Global Health Engagement for 77 medics, nurses and physicians at the International Maritime Exercise in February 2025. On a single mission to treat battlefield casualties, Kazakhs and Uzbeks wrapped wounds, set limbs and stanched…
Jordan occupies a central location in the Middle East and North Africa region, where traditional and nontraditional threats are numerous and diverse, constantly placing the kingdom’s stability at risk and forcing its planning apparatus to operate while facing a future dominated by unpredictability and uncertainty. For that reason, the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army has a constant need to upgrade its capabilities to confront emerging threats in every way possible. This includes participating in military exercises and maneuvers at local, regional and international levels. Military exercises are considered a primary component to maintain force preparedness and ensure our ability to respond…
Seventy-two military vehicles carrying hundreds of U.S. Marines rumbled to life at the break of dawn, their silhouettes splayed across the glowing horizon harboring the Saudi sun. In a military camp outside of Yanbu on the Red Sea, tires churned desert dust as the convoy streamed onto a highway that climbed into the barren highlands outside the city. Over the next two weeks, the U.S. military convoy, accompanied by Saudi and Emirati partners, skirted mountains, lava fields and sand dunes on a military exercise that would take it across the width of the Arabian Peninsula. It was all part of…
While friendly nations work to prevent dual-use materials from falling into the wrong hands, terrorist groups are jockeying to acquire chemical, biological and radioactive weapons. COVID-19 sounded global alarms about the dangers of pandemic outbreaks, whether the result of animal-to-human transmission or a leak of dangerous materials from a lab terrorists and other adversaries can exploit to make biological weapons. With these challenges in mind, the U.S. Department of Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Biological Threat Reduction Program, in coordination with United States Central Command, hosted the Regional Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Symposium. More than 75 guests, primarily military and…
In a remote training ground in central Jordan, multinational special operations forces dashed from an aircraft that had landed on a desert airstrip. Usually lightly equipped, these highly skilled, mobile troops arrived more heavily armed this time. Emerging from the bellies of C-130 aircraft, the U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) added a powerful punch to these quick reaction forces.HIMARS platforms normally rumble on all-terrain wheels to reach launch position. But at Eager Lion 24, the military exercise that engaged forces from 33 countries in May 2024, the missile launchers benefited from rapid insertion on the battlefield by air. …
Special Operations Forces (SOF) Week is an annual event in Tampa, Florida, site of U.S. Special Operations Command Headquarters. SOF Week in May 2024 attracted highly trained troops from dozens of countries to share information, observe the latest in tactics and equipment and build personal and professional relationships with global colleagues. The strong Qatari special operations contingent at SOF Week 2024 included troops who conducted an amphibious combat capabilities demonstration in partnership with counterparts from around the world. Unipath sat down with Qatari Brig. Gen. Salem Shreida, his country’s Senior National Representative to U.S. Central Command, to discuss the importance…
Article and Photos by UNITED STATES AIR FORCES CENTRAL F-16 Fighting Falcons from the Pakistani and U.S. Air Forces softened the ground with a barrage of missiles while attack helicopters carrying Pakistani and U.S. special operations troops infiltrated a terrorist base. Circling overhead, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms delivered targeting coordinates to the attacking forces for a successful completion of the mission. Falcon Talon, a Pakistani-U.S. field training exercise held for the fifth time in June 2024 at Mushaf Air Base in Pakistan, let the forces integrate with one another on operations deemed vital for both countries. In addition to…