By: North County Times

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and eight other U.S. Navy ships will be taking part in a war game exercise off the coast of San Diego during the next week.

The exercise is the final work for the carrier strike group before it deploys on a Western Pacific Ocean assignment later this year, Navy officials said.

More than 7,000 sailors, along with a Marine aviation unit, are taking part in the exercise, which seeks to test the group's "ability to operate in a complex, hostile environment with other U.S. and coalition forces," according a statement from the Navy.

An early warning aircraft assigned to NATO in Germany also is taking part, using its radar system to conduct surveillance and control flights.

Other ships taking part include the guided-missile cruisers USS Shiloh and Mobile Bay, and the guided-missile destroyers USS Benfold, Russell and Shoup.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/01 ... _22_08.txt