Indian Navy Hands Over Command of Combined Task Force 154 at Manama

14 October 2026National

The Indian Navy handed over command of Combined Task Force 154, the Combined Maritime Forces' maritime training task force, at a ceremony in Manama, Bahrain, on 14 October, closing an eight-month tenure that began on 11 February 2026. It was India's first command of any CMF task force. Under Indian leadership CTF-154 delivered over 7,800 training hours to personnel from 39 countries and ran 20 Staff Enhancement Training engagements, besides Operation Southern Readiness 26-2, hosted by Southern Naval Command at Kochi in July, and the inaugural SPAR 2026 exchange on piracy and armed robbery at sea.

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The Combined Maritime Forces is a 47-nation naval partnership headquartered at Manama, Bahrain; India joined as an associate partner in 2022 and became a full member in 2023 | CMF runs task forces including CTF-150 (maritime security), CTF-151 (counter-piracy), CTF-152 (Arabian Gulf security) and CTF-154 (maritime training) | The Indian Navy's Southern Naval Command, headquartered at Kochi, is its training command

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