Sunday 05 / April / 2026
Muscat: The participants in the Al Shomoukh 2 and Swift Sword 3 (SS3) military exercises from the different military, security and civil sectors in the Sultanate stressed their full interactiveness and harmony with the proceedings of the national exercise Al Shomoukh 2 as planned till implementing the SS3 with the Royal British Armed Forces.
This stressed the importance of early planning to enhance national capacities and ensure high level of combat, training and specialised efficiency to achieve the aims of the training and national objectives behind this national integrated joint exercise.
“The participation of the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO) in Al Shomoukh 2 and SS3 continues the training approach adopted by the Sultan’s Armed Forces (SAF). RNO is looking forward to achieve the maximum benefit of these exercises at the strategic, operational and mobilisation levels,” said Rear Admiral Abdullah bin Khamis Al Raisi, Commander of the Royal Navy of Oman in a statement to the Moral Guidance.
RNO Command also sought to ensure harmony with SAF and other sectors to ensure the prospective operational readiness and efficiency and to ensure the readiness of RNO vessels and the ability of the crews to deal with modern systems which were introduced as part of the current development witnessed by RNO; thanks to the royal care of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said; the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces’.
Brigadier Hamad bin Rashid Al Balushi, Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations and Planning said that this major exercise requires a large number of human resources and equipment to ensure that the exercise goes smoothly and efficiently.
It also needs allocation of all resources and abilities and maintaining coordination and cooperation with the other agencies taking part in the exercise.
The SS3, implemented jointly with the Royal British Armed Forces, is going as planned. The exercise aims at sharing experiences, sustaining readability and enhancing the training capabilities of both sides.
Brigadier Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Makhini, Head of the planning team for Al Shomoukh 2 and SS3 military exercises said that the joint work has seen rapid development and relying on armed forces in managing conflicts requires involving other elements to benefit from their experiences.
Commodore Maktoum bin Salim Al Mazrouei, Assistant SAF Chief of Staff for Joint Training and Exercises said that SAF adopts a number of training plans and programmes to enhance SAF’s operational efficiency. He added that Al Shomoukh 2 and SS3 are of great national importance in the history of SAF as more than 70,000 people take part in addition to the friendly troops from the U.K. which take part in the SS3.
Moreover, involving many military, security, police and civil society organisations provides the opportunity to streamline all their capabilities under one system and joint command.
This ensures enhancing the efficiency of SAF and other security and public organisations.
UK envoy vists exercise headquarters
Hamish Cowell, the UK Ambassador to the Sultanate on Wednesday paid a visit to the headquarter of the military exercise Al Shomoukh 2, which is being implemented by the Sultan’s Armed Forces (SAF), the Ministry of Defence departments and the military and security apparatuses, in addition to a wide participation from with civil organisations.
Al Shomoukh 2 will be followed directly by the joint Swift Sword 3 Exercise, which will be executed with the UK Royal Armed Forces.
At the exercise HQs’, the UK Ambassador was received by Brigadier Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Makhini, Head of the Planning Team for Al Shomoukh 2 and Swift Sword 3. The ambassador was briefed on stages of implementing the exercise.
