In the early morning of December 19, local time, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the U.S.-led "Prosperity Guardian" initiative during his visit to the Middle East, saying that a multinational naval force would be formed to protect merchant ships sailing in the Red Sea. However, a Reuters report on the 22nd said that the US-led alliance actually has only very limited support from some allies.
Austin said on the 19th that the countries that agreed to join the "Prosperity Guardian" operation include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain. By the 21st, Austin said that Greece and Australia had also joined the operation, bringing the total number of participating countries to 20.
However, Reuters published an article saying that although the United States announced that 20 countries would participate in the "Prosperity Guardian" operation, in fact, some of them have not yet been conclusively confirmed. In addition, contrary to the U.S. narrative, some countries have said that although they will send armed forces to protect traffic security in the Red Sea, these actions are only part of this plan and will not join the U.S.-led Operation Prosperity Guardian.
According to the report, the French Ministry of Defense said that the French ** team has carried out the task of ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and its surrounding waters, but these troops will continue to be under the command of France. According to Reuters, France has a naval base in the UAE and 1,500 troops deployed in Djibouti. Currently, France deploys the frigate "Languedoc" in the Red Sea. And the response of the Italian and Spanish Ministries of Defense was more explicit. According to the Italian Ministry of Defense, Italy will send the frigate "Virginia Fasan" to the waters of the Red Sea, but this is in response to the call of Italian shipowners to protect Italy's national interests, not to participate in the "Prosperity Guardian" operation. Spain's defense ministry said Spain would only participate in NATO-led operations or those coordinated by the European Union, and would not unilaterally participate in the U.S.-led Red Sea operation.
In the list released by the United States, apart from France, Italy, and Spain, which have indicated that they will not participate in the US-led "Prosperity Guardian" operation, some countries have provided only very limited support. For example, Australia said it would have 16 Australian troops involved in the U.S. military-led operation starting in 2024, the Netherlands said it would send two staff officers to Operation Prosperity Guardian, Norway said it would send 10 naval officers to the headquarters of the Joint Maritime Force (CMF) in Bahrain, which was established in 2022, and Denmark said it would send one officer to the operation.
Reuters said that as of the 22nd, among the participants in the "Prosperity Guardian" operation announced by the United States, only the United Kingdom and Greece announced that they would send ** to participate in the "Prosperity Guardian" operation, of which the United Kingdom will send the 45-class destroyer "Diamond", while Greece said it would send a frigate.