The 21st iteration of Exercise Phoenix Express concluded on September 18, 2026, at La Goulette Naval Base in Tunisia. A 12-day multinational maritime exercise, led by the United States (US) 6th Fleet and hosted by the Tunisian Navy.
Phoenix Express is one of three regional maritime exercises run by US Naval Forces Africa (NAVAF), the component of US Africa Command (Africom) responsible for naval operations on the continent. This year’s exercise opened on September 7 and ran in two week-long phases: an in-port, land-based command phase, and a follow-on phase at sea.
During the in-port stage, participating navies used a multinational communication center to coordinate and pass real-time data, building what planners call a common operational picture, a shared, updated view of vessel movements and activity across the exercise area. The at-sea phase put that coordination into practice through search-and-rescue drills and simulated ship boardings meant to sharpen interdiction procedures among the different fleets.
Thirteen (13) nations took part: Algeria, Belgium, Egypt, France, Georgia, Italy, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the US. Earlier Africom material published at the start of the exercise had listed a slightly different lineup, including the United Kingdom rather than Saudi Arabia and Spain; the closing release from US Naval Forces Europe and Africa reflects the final roster of participants who saw the exercise through to completion. Vice Admiral J.T. Anderson, commander of US 6th Fleet and NATO’s Naval Striking and Support Forces, framed the exercise around the pairing of technology and training. “The true strength of Phoenix Express lies in combining cutting-edge maritime technologies with the exceptional professionalism of the forces who operate them”, he said in a statement issued as the exercise began. At the closing ceremony, Anderson credited the participating crews with proving that shared interests, not fleet size, hold the coalition together, and US Ambassador to Tunisia Bill Bazzi pointed to the exercise as evidence that a stable Mediterranean benefits both countries directly.
Phoenix Express traces back to 2004, when the US Navy began building a standing maritime security partnership with Tunisia that has run, with one interruption, ever since; the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 16th iteration, Exercise Phoenix Express 2021, of the North African maritime security series, was held on May 17, 2021, in Tunis, Tunisia. The series grew out of the broader Africa Partnership Station initiative and the wider “Express” family of exercises the US Navy uses to build maritime capacity with partner forces around the continent. What started as a smaller bilateral and regional effort, with 9 African and 9 European nations taking part as recently as 2010, has expanded to draw participants from well beyond North Africa, including this year’s contingents from Georgia and Saudi Arabia.
The technical substance of Phoenix Express sits less in hardware and more in interoperability. The exercise is built around getting different navies’ sensors, communications systems and command structures to work together well enough to track vessels and coordinate a response across national boundaries. Alongside Tunisian and other partner forces, elements of the US 6th Fleet used the drill to expand their use of advanced tracking and detection systems aimed at identifying illegal activity inside African exclusive economic zones (EEZs), the waters extending up to 200 nautical miles from a coastline where a state holds special rights over resources.
Phoenix Express is one of three regional maritime exercises that US Naval Forces Africa runs each year, alongside Cutlass Express in East Africa and Obangame Express in the Gulf of Guinea. Together they form a standing effort to build partner navies’ capacity through repetition rather than a single large show of force, an approach that has defined much of Africom’s maritime engagement since the command stood up in 2007.
The inclusion of Saudi Arabia and Georgia this year, alongside a steady core of North African and southern European participants, points to the exercise’s continued use as a vehicle for widening security ties beyond the immediate Mediterranean basin. It also comes against a backdrop of broader US naval engagement with Tunisia, a relationship Washington has repeatedly tied to a bilateral history stretching back to a 1797 treaty of peace and friendship between the two countries. For the US and NATO partners, it offers a foothold for maritime security cooperation in a region where illicit trafficking, irregular migration, and disputed maritime boundaries remain persistent concerns.