That's alot of firepower sitting in port getting ready for Exercise Brilliant Mariner.

Thanks to Caesar for the link!

Mistral class LHD next to a Juan Carlos class with various destroyers and frigates in the background?  None of them appear to be US either.

I didn't have this exercise on my radar but I do now.  It'll be worth watching. The more I see the Mistral, the more I'm warming to it.  Imagine an amphibious fleet that had 3 America class LHAs and the rest of it being composed of Mistrals. I think we gain flexibility.  Especially since the move to distributed operations at sea is here to stay (or so it seems), these ships would seem more capable of carrying out the concept than the bastardized LPD/LSD that are being geared for aviation instead of surface assault.