The Armed Forces of Malta has taken part in what is know as the Exercise Canale, an annual major military exercise organised bilaterally between Malta and Italy involving mainly Maltese and Italian naval and air assets together with those of other Mediterranean countries.

The exercise was organised into a number of distinct phases, each designed to exercise the participants in a number of different skills. All tasks were focused on soft-security issues.

The aim of Exercise Canale 06 was to promote cooperation, security and peace in the Mediterranean region by conducting naval and air operations involving units of the Maltese and Italian armed forces and other invited nations in combined SAR and maritime law enforcement operations.

The objectives of this exercise included to train respective commands in the use of standard procedures in alerting and conducting SAR operations; to train respective naval and air commands/units in the correct use of techniques in the search and rescue for personnel and vessels in distress at sea; to train explosives ordinance disposal (EOD) teams in the practice of underwater EOD operations.

Representatives from both the Maltese and Italian governments were present to observe the level of interoperability and special capabilities developed within the exercise framework.