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NATO Exercises

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:21 pm
by Pelican
UK WARSHIPS JOIN ‘FORMIDABLE’ NATO FORCE OFF ICELAND
03 July 2020
All five surface ships and three of the five boats taking part in NATO’s ‘High North’ submarine hunt mustered for combined manoeuvres and ‘photocall’ before knuckling down to the traditional game of cat and mouse between hunter and hunted in the grey wastes of the Atlantic.

The gathering was, says Commander Matt Sykes, HMS Kent’s Commanding Officer, “a formidable sight”.

Two Royal Navy frigates – Kent plus sister HMS Westminster, both from Portsmouth, each with submarine-hunting Merlins from 814 Naval Air Squadron from Culdrose embarked – and Trafalgar-class boat HMS Trenchant are taking part in Dynamic Mongoose.

For the first time, an RAF Poseidon P8 maritime patrol aircraft is also involved in the exercise, which tests the ability of NATO’s anti-submarine forces to collectively deal with the latest underwater threats – and tests the ability of submarine crews to evade the sonars and sonobuoys dropped, lowered and dipped in the ocean, listening for the tell-tale sound of a submarine.

Three nuclear boats – Trenchant plus France’s FS Casabianca and the US Navy’s USS Indiana – and two traditional diesel-powered boats (which have to come up to periscope depth regularly to recharge their batteries) from Germany (U36) and Norway (HNoMS Utsira) act as the cutting-edge opponents to the surface and aerial hunters.

At the height of the hunt, both ships and submarines will maintain maximum silence to prevent giving their locations away. Everything is battened down tightly to prevent doors and hatches banging or tools falling out of racks.

Only sailors required on duty will be at their posts, moving around the ship in their socks to minimise noise when clambering up and down ladders; their shipmates retire to their bunks until needed.

As well as the core anti-submarine element of Dynamic Mongoose – which is hosted every other year off the Icelandic coast – there are other more general tests and manoeuvres, such as choreographing submarines and warships in close proximity on the surface, down to more ‘warry’ training such as swarm attacks by fast surface craft (known as ‘quickdraw’ as it demands an immediate and accurate response from the ships’ gunnery teams).

More photos at:
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... t-and-nato

Re: NATO Exercises

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 11:01 pm
by Pelican
NAVY’S GUARDIANS READY FOR CARRIER MISSION AFTER ANTI-SUBMARINE WORKOUT
16 July 2020
Royal Navy submarine hunters are better prepared to protect its carrier groups after an intensive two-week Atlantic exercise.

Participants say NATO’s two-week-long Dynamic Mongoose off the Icelandic coast has honed crucial skills ahead of the maiden deployment by HMS Queen Elizabeth in the new year.

The exercise saw the largest British involvement in years: two frigates (HMS Kent and Westminster), each with a Merlin anti-submarine helicopter from 814 Naval Air Squadron embarked, hunter-killer submarine HMS Trenchant and, for the first time, a new RAF P8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft – more than 500 military personnel.

In all six NATO nations committed five warships, five submarines and several patrol planes to Dynamic Mongoose which ended on Friday and tested their collective abilities to hunt down underwater threats in the cool waters of the Atlantic.

Continues at:
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... ne-workout

Re: NATO Exercises

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2021 12:04 pm
by Pelican
NATO warships enter Black Sea

Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group Two (SNMCMG2) units have entered the Black Sea for the third time this year to conduct further routine operations, and conduct a port visit to Batumi, Georgia.
According to NATO here, SNMCMG2, consists of Spanish flagship ESPS Rayo, Italian ship ITS Viareggio, and Turkish ship TCG Edincik. Romanian ship ROS Lt. Lupu Dinescu and Bulgarian ship BGS Shkval will join the group after they enter the Black Sea.

Continues at - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/nato-wa ... black-sea/
Link from Tim.

Re: NATO Exercises

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2021 5:23 pm
by Pelican

Re: NATO Exercises

Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2021 2:03 pm
by Pelican
That's a wrap on Joint Warrior 2021, with time for one final Phot-Ex. Thanks to all our NATO allies and all involved! Until next time.

Short video at - https://twitter.com/RFAMountsBay/status ... 0514270213

Re: NATO Exercises

Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2021 3:42 pm
by Pelican
Pelican wrote: Sat Oct 02, 2021 2:03 pm That's a wrap on Joint Warrior 2021, with time for one final Phot-Ex. Thanks to all our NATO allies and all involved! Until next time.

Short video at - https://twitter.com/RFAMountsBay/status ... 0514270213
Exercise Joint Warrior concludes off Scottish coast

The two-week NATO exercise Dynamic Mariner 21/Joint Warrior 21-2 was concluded on Wednesday off the coast of Scotland.
Dynamic Mariner 21/Joint Warrior 21-2 (DYMR21/JW212) is a Maritime Force Integration live exercise and was part of the certification process for the NATO Response Force Maritime Component (NRF/M) for 2022.

Continues at - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/exercis ... ish-coast/

Re: NATO Exercises

Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:01 pm
by Pelican
HMS Lancaster: NATO warship visits Glasgow before heading home after Exercise Joint Warrior

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/196 ... ding-home/

Link from Tim.

Re: NATO Exercises

Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2021 7:40 pm
by jbryce1437
Five NATO warships currently heading south of Sunderland in Line Ahead. AIS says they left Belfast 3 October, but no destination on show.

Jim
nato minesweepers.jpg

Re: NATO Exercises

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:34 pm
by Pelican
Warship arrives in Scotland to be destroyed as target

The former USS Boone, a decommissioned American frigate, has arrived in Scotland and will soon be sunk as part of an exercise involving missiles being fired from a British frigate.
A local source told me that the vessel arrived in Campbeltown in western Scotland today after being towed to Scotland from Philadelphia in the US.

See - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/warship ... as-target/

Also - https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/ ... 8820942849

Re: NATO Exercises

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2022 6:06 pm
by Pelican
RN Manta experimental XLUUV seen on the dockside during recent NATO exercise REPMUS22 in Portugal.

Note bow-mounted (sensor?) payload of some kind.
See - https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/ ... 0400121856