African Lion 25: Largest U.S.-led military exercise in Africa kicks off across four nations


Read Time: 2 minutes

/images/screenshot/17445571432043442803433880120633.jpg

VICENZA, Italy — African Lion 25, U.S. Africa Command’s premier annual exercise, officially kicks off April 14, 2025, in Tunisia, with activities in Ghana, Senegal, and Morocco beginning in May. With more than 10,000 troops from over 40 nations — including seven NATO allies — this year’s iteration will be the largest in the exercise’s history.

Led by the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), AL25 enhances interoperability, strengthens readiness, and builds strategic partnerships through realistic, multi-domain training. Exercises span land, air, maritime, space, and cyber domains, supporting the shared goal of increased security and stability on the continent.

African Lion 25 is AFRICOM’s largest multinational, combined joint exercise in Africa. It demonstrates the capabilities of the total force by building strategic readiness and interoperability with our African partners and allies to deploy, fight, and win in a complex multi-domain environment,” said Maj. Gen. Andrew C. Gainey, commanding general, SETAF-AF.

Core events include field training exercises, airborne and amphibious operations, special operations forces, HIMARS rapid insertion, humanitarian civic assistance, and medical readiness engagements. New capabilities being tested include integrated cyber defense training and next-generation systems such as the Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon.

African Lion 25 will take place across Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana, and Senegal. Participating nations include:

  • In Morocco: Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, France, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Israel, Kenya, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, United Kingdom and the United States.
  • In Tunisia: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, Spain, Tunisia and the United States.
  • In Ghana: Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, Togo and the United States.
  • In Senegal: Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Netherlands, Senegal and the United States

Observer nations include Belgium, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, India, Qatar, and Republic of Congo—reflecting broad interest in regional cooperation and collective security.

African Lion began in 2004 and has evolved into the U.S. military’s most significant exercise on the continent. This year’s events reinforce the U.S. commitment to enduring partnerships and demonstrate our ability to respond to crises and deter threats by promoting peace through strength.

For media inquiries or to request interviews or embed opportunities, contact SETAF-AF Public Affairs at setaf_pao@army.mil.

About African Lion

African Lion 25 is U.S. Africa Command’s premier annual exercise, led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), that strengthens the U.S. military’s ability to respond rapidly, operate forward, and train alongside allies and partners. Designed to address shared security challenges, African Lion 25 enhances readiness, reinforces strategic reach, and fosters innovative solutions.

African Lion DVIDS Feature Page

About SETAF-AF

SETAF-AF provides U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Army Europe and Africa a dedicated headquarters to synchronize Army activities in Africa and scalable crisis-response options in Africa and Europe.


12 thoughts on “African Lion 25: Largest U.S.-led military exercise in Africa kicks off across four nations

  1. I’m impressed, I must say. Actually not often do I encounter a weblog that’s both educative and entertaining, and let me inform you, you have hit the nail on the head. Your concept is excellent; the problem is something that not sufficient persons are speaking intelligently about. I am very comfortable that I stumbled throughout this in my seek for one thing referring to this.

  2. Hi, Neat post. There’s a problem along with your site in internet explorer, may check this… IE still is the marketplace chief and a huge component to other folks will omit your great writing due to this problem.

  3. magnificent publish, very informative. I wonder why the other experts of this sector don’t realize this. You should proceed your writing. I am sure, you’ve a great readers’ base already!

  4. Hey, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Ie, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, fantastic blog!

  5. Thanks for sharing superb informations. Your web-site is so cool. I am impressed by the details that you’ve on this site. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the information I already searched everywhere and just could not come across. What a perfect website.

  6. Hey there this is kind of of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding skills so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!

  7. What i don’t understood is in fact how you’re not really a lot more well-liked than you might be right now. You’re so intelligent. You understand thus considerably in the case of this subject, produced me in my opinion imagine it from so many varied angles. Its like women and men are not fascinated until it’s one thing to do with Lady gaga! Your individual stuffs great. At all times handle it up!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *