The Canadian Forces will also send a CP-140 Aurora patrol aircraft as part of the mission, and plan to deploy a Halifax-class frigate every other year staring in 2018.<\/p>\n
Combined Task Force 150<\/h2>\n
Combined Task Force 150 is a U.S.-led multinational mission bringing together 31 countries in the waters around the Middle East and East Africa.<\/p>\n
The multinational force deploys ships and surveillance operations to deter and intercept illegal\u00a0shipments of weapons and\u00a0narcotics used to fund terrorist groups.<\/p>\n
![\"Canadian](\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.2472262.1387572608!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/canadian-warship-drug-bust.jpg\")
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Canada plans to deploy a frigate next year to a multinational force patrolling international waters in the Middle East as part of an extension to Operation Artemis. (Andrew Vaughan\/Canadian Press)<\/p>\n
“By denying terrorists a method of conducting operations and moving personnel, weapons and narcotics, Canada makes a direct contribution to increased maritime security and international counterterrorism efforts,”\u00a0Sajjan\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
Covering\u00a0more than five million square kilometres, the task force’s purview spans\u00a0the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Western Indian Ocean.\u00a0The maritime region is strategically important not only in terms of its place in the global fight against terrorism, but also as a vital trade route between the Far East, Europe and\u00a0North America.<\/p>\n
The planned deployment of a Halifax-class frigate to the Middle East next year is in contrast to when Canada last led the multinational force. Canada was unable to send a frigate for that command in December 2016, the third time Canada had led CTF 150\u00a0since its launch\u00a0in 2001.<\/p>\n
Canada has since handed command of the operation\u00a0to France. Sajjan said Canada could seek to lead the multinational force every other year.<\/p>\n
4-years allow flexibility: Sajjan<\/h2>\n
Sajjan said the four-year extension will allow the military greater flexibility in planning its operations, with this mission connected to Canada’s broader efforts to counter terrorism worldwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The deployment of a CP-140 Aurora as part of Operation Artemis is “not related at all whatsoever” to the government’s\u00a0decision earlier this month to pull a similar aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS<\/a>, Sajjan told reporters.<\/p>\n