HIMARS, allied partnerships at center of African Lion drills

The United States military wrapped up its largest annual joint exercise in Africa on Friday, one marked by a few firsts for the continent-wide drill, according to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force .

African Lion 2023 was hosted by four African countries and included more than 8,000 personnel. Seventeen countries and numerous NATO partners participated in the month-long exercise, which was carried out between May 13 and June 16 in Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia and Ghana.

“Our collective ability to bring like-minded nations together for an exercise like this is truly impressive,” Maj. Gen. Joel Tyler, U.S. Africa Command chief of staff, said in a statement. “African Lion is the centerpiece of the AFRICOM exercise strategy, and one of the greatest U.S. exercises across the globe.”

Among a number of firsts during the annual drill, the Marine Corps fired High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems , or HIMARS, for the first time on African soil.

HIMARS munitions have gained notoriety in the wake of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Since January, the U.S. has sent at least 20 such systems to Ukraine. The weapons shipments have come amid continued concerns over operations by Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group , which is currently operating across Africa, specifically in the Central African Republic, Libya and Sudan.

This year’s exercise concluded as the U.S. is also working to counter China’s growing influence in the region. While the Chinese military already operates in Djibouti, there is concern that another base on the continent could soon be in development.

During a House Armed Service Committee hearing last year, then-AFRICOM commander Army Gen. Stephen Townsend expressed concern that the Chinese government might make a play to build a base in western Africa. Beijing had already made significant progress in Equatorial Guinea, Townsend said during the hearing.

In another first, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox visited the African Lion exercise for the first time, according to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force. Morocco and the Utah National Guard celebrated 20 years participating in the State Department’s State Partnership Program, which is meant to strengthen military relationships between the U.S. and other countries.

“Over the years, what I’ve seen is that relationship [with Morocco] has continued to grow,” Maj. Jared Sorensen of the Utah National Guard told Military Times. “So, when we fire artillery out here, it takes a lot of trust, and so that friendship grows really quickly. ... And just in the last two weeks that we’ve been out here, I’ve seen guys make really good friendships and strong connections with our Moroccan counterparts.”

African Lion was also joined by its first multi-domain task-force element, personnel spread across cyberspace, intelligence, electronic warfare and space domains. The 2nd Multi-Domain Task Force provides those services to U.S. Army Europe and Africa, according to the 2nd MDTFs website.

Beyond the Utah Guard’s relationship with Morocco and the shipment of HIMARS munitions, the U.S. has continued efforts to strengthen ties with militaries on the continent. Numerous African countries have hosted the U.S. 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade — a smaller unit meant to train foreign militaries — to train alongside partner forces.

The 2nd SFAB has trained militaries in Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Somalia, Djibouti, Botswana and Zambia. In Ghana, U.S. forces assisted with establishing a school that prepared soldiers for U.N. peacekeeping missions.

U.S. forces continue to have some 700 boots on the ground in advisory and training roles in Somalia, where the federal government is continuing its fight against the extremist group al-Shabab.

Zamone “Z” Perez is a reporter at Military Times. He previously worked at Foreign Policy and Ufahamu Africa. He is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he researched international ethics and atrocity prevention in his thesis. He can be found on Twitter @zamoneperez.

据美国陆军南欧特遣部队称，美国军方于周五结束了在非洲举行的年度最大规模联合演习，此次演习在整个非洲大陆范围内创造了一些“第一”。

2023年“非洲雄狮”联合军演由四个非洲国家主办，共有8000多名人员参加。17个国家和众多北约伙伴国参加了为期一个月的演习，演习于5月13日至6月16日在摩洛哥、塞内加尔、突尼斯和加纳举行。

美国非洲司令部参谋长乔尔·泰勒少将在声明中表示：“我们能够将志同道合的国家聚集在一起进行这样的演习，这确实令人印象深刻。‘非洲雄狮’是美国非洲司令部演习战略的核心，也是美国在全球范围内规模最大的演习之一。”

在年度演习中，海军陆战队创造了多项“第一”，其中包括首次在非洲大陆发射高机动性火箭炮系统（HIMARS）。

自俄罗斯2022年2月入侵乌克兰以来，HIMARS导弹系统声名狼藉。自1月以来，美国已向乌克兰运送了至少20套此类系统。与此同时，人们持续担忧俄罗斯雇佣兵组织瓦格纳集团的活动，该集团目前在非洲各地活动，尤其是在中非共和国、利比亚和苏丹。

今年的联合军演落下帷幕，与此同时，美国也在努力遏制中国在该地区日益增长的影响力。尽管中国军队已经在吉布提开展军事活动，但人们担心，中国可能很快会在非洲大陆建立另一个军事基地。

去年，在众议院军事委员会的一次听证会上，时任美国非洲司令部司令、陆军上将斯蒂芬·汤森德表示担忧，认为中国政府可能会试图在西非建立军事基地。汤森德在听证会上说，北京已经在赤道几内亚取得了显著进展。

据美国陆军南欧特遣部队消息，犹他州州长斯宾塞·考克斯首次视察了“非洲雄狮”联合军事演习。摩洛哥和犹他州国民警卫队庆祝了双方参与美国国务院“州伙伴关系计划”20周年，该计划旨在加强美国与其他国家之间的军事关系。

“多年来，我看到（与摩洛哥的）关系持续发展，”犹他州国民警卫队少校贾里德·索伦森告诉《军事时报》。“所以，当我们在这里进行炮击时，需要极大的信任，因此这种友谊发展得非常迅速……就在我们在这里待的这两周里，我看到我们的战友与摩洛哥同行建立了非常好的友谊和牢固的联系。”

“非洲雄狮”演习的首个多域特遣部队分队也同时加入，其人员分布在网络空间、情报、电子战和太空领域。根据第二多域特遣部队网站的信息，该部队为美国陆军欧洲和非洲司令部提供上述服务。

除了犹他州国民警卫队与摩洛哥的关系以及向摩洛哥运送HIMARS导弹系统外，美国还持续努力加强与非洲大陆各国军队的联系。许多非洲国家都曾接待过美国第二安全部队援助旅——一支旨在训练外国军队的小型部队——与伙伴部队进行联合训练。

第二特种部队航空旅曾为摩洛哥、突尼斯、塞内加尔、索马里、吉布提、博茨瓦纳和赞比亚的军队提供训练。在加纳，美军协助建立了一所学校，为联合国维和行动培养士兵。

美国军队继续在索马里驻扎约 700 名地面人员，担任顾问和训练角色。索马里联邦政府正在继续与极端组织青年党作战。

扎莫内·“Z”·佩雷斯是《军事时报》的记者。他曾就职于《外交政策》和《乌法哈姆非洲》。他毕业于西北大学，毕业论文研究国际伦理和暴行预防。他的推特账号是@zamoneperez。