BAY OF BENGAL (April 7, 2021) Ships operate in the Bay of Bengal in support of exercise La Perouse 2021, April 5, 2021. La Perouse consists of naval assets from Australia, France, India, Japan and the United States. La Perouse is an exercise conducted during the annual French Navy midshipman deployment called Mission Jeanne d'Arc. The exercise is designed to conduct training, enhance cooperation in maritime surveillance, maritime interdiction operations, and air operations. As the U.S. Navy's largest forward-deployed fleet, U.S. 7th Fleet employs 50-70 ships and submarines across the Western Pacific and Indian oceans. U.S. 7th Fleet routinely operates and interacts with 35 maritime nations while conducting missions to preserve and protect a free and open Indo-Pacific Region. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of the French navy)