The US and Panama have launched PANAMAX-Alpha Part I, a week-long joint navy coaching operation centered on regional safety and emergency preparedness for the Panama Canal.The train, scheduled from July 13 to 18, 2025, goals to boost strategic preparedness close to the Panama Canal in opposition to “threats to the safety of the Panama Canal and different strategic infrastructure,” in accordance with Panama’s Nationwide Aeronaval Service.The navy train is being operated by Joint Activity Pressure-Bravo (JTF-B) of the US Southern Command, with personnel from Panama’s Nationwide Aeronaval Service, Nationwide Police, and Nationwide Border Service collaborating.PANAMAX-Alpha Part I follows PANAMAX-Alpha Part 0, which was held in April 2025 involving the US and Panama, carried out by JTF-Bravo and supported by the US Southern Command.
JTF-Bravo UH-60 Blackhawk out of Soto Can Air Base, Honduras (Pic credit score: @JTF_Bravo/X)
In April, US Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth introduced an expanded safety partnership between the US and Panama to bolster safety of the Panama Canal from “China’s maligned affect” within the area.The announcement was made throughout a three-day safety convention in Panama Metropolis, the place Hegseth mentioned, “The Panama Canal is essential terrain that should be secured by Panama, with America, and never China,” in accordance with the US Division of Protection.He added that “[China’s] rising and adversarial management of strategic land and significant infrastructure on this hemisphere can not and won’t stand.”PANAMAX-Alpha Part I entails the deployment of two UH-60 Black Hawks and one CH-47 Chinook helicopter, together with boarding and disembarking operations, quick rope insertion, rescue crane extraction, and communication workout routines on maritime platforms.The US Southern Command shared pictures of simulated Panama Canal safety operations on X (previously Twitter).These drills are being carried out on the Teniente Octavio Rodríguez Garrido Air Base (Panama Pacific), Almirante Cristóbal Colón Naval Air Base (Colón), and Salvador Córdoba Main Air Base (Darién).The Panama Canal serves as a key maritime route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The waterway was constructed by the US starting in 1904 and has been beneath Panama’s management since 1999.
