NATO Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024

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Royal Navy: Why aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi, USS Gunston Hall and other ships are in Portsmouth

International ships have been sailing to HMNB Portsmouth this week as part of a major continental mission.

Italian aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi was welcomed into the city on Wednesday (February 14). She was following by another Italian ship yesterday, the IS San Giorgio. Both vessels have joined the American Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship, the USS Gunston Hall. She arrived into the naval base on February 10.

The Royal Navy have confirmed that all these ships have sailed into the Solent as they are travelling to be part of Exercise Steadfast Defender – Nato’s largest mission since The Cold War. More than 40 vessels are involved in the operation and are drawn from two dozen nations. It will take place in the North Sea and the far north off the coast of Norway’s Arctic Coast. More than 20,000 UK personnel will be deployed across Scandenavia and northern Europe.

Continues, including video, at - https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defen ... th-4522314 - LFT

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UK Carrier Strike Group
The official account of the United Kingdom Carrier Strike Group, currently commanded by Commodore James Blackmore Royal Navy (COMUKCSG).

UK Carrier Strike Group reposted
NATO ACT
Unity
Strength
Determination to protect every inch of Allied territory
NATO's largest exercise in decades, SteadfastDefender24, has started, putting military capabilities to the test as the Alliance adapts to the ever-evolving security landscape.
See - https://twitter.com/NATO_ACT/status/1758571244163621108

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Royal Navy: Spanish war ships head to Portsmouth Naval base as international stop offs continue

Two Spanish warships will head into Portsmouth tomorrow (Tuesday, February 19) as international ships continue to drop into the city's naval base on their way to a major NATO exercise.

See - https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defen ... ue-4524324 - LFT

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Jets land on HMS Prince of Wales as strike group assembles

F-35 Lightning stealth fighters have embarked on HMS Prince of Wales as the carrier prepares to join NATO allies on its biggest exercise in decades.
For the first time, the 65,000-tonne ship will host UK Carrier Strike Group battlestaff as she takes a central role in Exercise Steadfast Defender.

See - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/jets-la ... assembles/

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Jets land on HMS Prince of Wales as strike group assembles

F-35 Lightning stealth fighters have embarked on HMS Prince of Wales as the carrier prepares to join NATO allies on its biggest exercise in decades.
For the first time, the 65,000-tonne ship will host UK Carrier Strike Group battlestaff as she takes a central role in Exercise Steadfast Defender.

See - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/jets-la ... assembles/

Also see - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... e-of-wales

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Five Nato warships call in at UK port ahead of largest exercise since Cold War

Five Nato warships have been carrying out air defence exercises off the UK coast before gathering in Southampton port ahead of the largest exercise by the alliance since the Cold War.

Standing Nato Maritime Group One (SNMG1), made up of five warships, was visiting the Hampshire port before heading to take part in further drills as part of Exercise Steadfast Defender.

Before arriving in Southampton, the five ships – Spanish flagship ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbon, BNS Louis Marie (Belgium), FS Normandie (France), FGS Bonn (Germany) and ESPS Cantabria (Spain) – also carried out gunnery exercises while travelling from Scotland.

The visit comes after armoured vehicles belonging to 7 Light Mechanised Brigade, also known as “The Desert Rats”, alongside Land Rovers, engineers’ tractors and support vehicles were loaded into a 23,000-tonne cargo vessel, Anvil Point, near Southampton to take part in the exercise which will be taking place off Norway.
And Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales set sail from Portsmouth after being prepared at short notice when its sister ship suffered a propeller issue forcing it to cancel its deployment to Steadfast Defender.

The Royal Navy also sent its four smallest ships, the P2000 “plastic patrol craft” HMS Biter, Blazer, Exploit and Trumpeter, earlier this month to take part.

Continues at - https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/fi ... r-BB1iIcRo - LFT

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Deploying HMS Prince of Wales on Steadfast Defender sends clear signal of UK's lofty Nato ambitions

Defence and security blogger @Pinstripedline explains why the deployment of HMS Prince of Wales on Exercise Steadfast Defender sends a strong signal for Nato.

The Royal Navy has deployed the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales on a short-notice mission to participate in the major Nato exercise Steadfast Defender.

This is one of the biggest Nato exercises to be held in decades and involves tens of thousands of troops, dozens of aircraft and ships working across the North Atlantic to test how the alliance would reinforce and defend itself in the event of being attacked.

Army becoming UK's 'most Nato' service, but next steps could be a balancing act
Royal Navy's Carrier Strike Group gathers momentum ahead of Exercise Steadfast Defender
In numbers: Who and what the UK is sending to Nato's biggest military exercise since Cold War
Originally HMS Queen Elizabeth was due to participate, but due to mechanical issues had to be withdrawn at very short notice.

Instead, HMS Prince of Wales, which was at 30 days' notice for sea and preparing for a major maintenance period, was made ready to deploy and sailed just eight days later.

This is a very significant accomplishment and is testament to both the flexibility of Royal Navy personnel and the value gained from having two carriers available for operations.

At the time of the announcement there had been speculation in the press that HMS Queen Elizabeth would not participate in the exercise, but instead deploy to the Red Sea to support ongoing UK-US air strikes against Houthi rebels.

That the MOD has chosen to not change the plans, and is continuing to prioritise exercise participation, to the extent of ensuring that a carrier is available at any cost, speaks to the importance of Steadfast Defender to the UK.

But why is it so important to do this?

During the Cold War, Nato regularly practised exercises that involved testing the reinforcement of Germany and Norway by troops being sent over from the US and Canada.

Continues at - https://www.forces.net/opinion/deployin ... -ambitions

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𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐎 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐧.

February 24, 2024

𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐎 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝒚 (𝐓𝐎𝐀), 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 5,000 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐔𝐒𝐒 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 (𝐀𝐑𝐆) 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬.
The TOA – which takes place in parallel to NATO’s exercise Steadfast Defender 2024 – brings joint vigilance and Deterrence and Defense (DDA) activities from USS Bataan ARG’s assets, alongside elements of NATO Maritime Command Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNGM 2), and the Turkish Navy.

Continues at - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/naval-st ... es--njzof/

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HMS Prince of Wales
The end of a second busy week at sea as the NATO Carrier Task Group assembles...
Embarked F-35s OC 617Sqn
Multiple aviation serials
Replenished with RFA Tidesurge
Gunnery exercises
More to come...See https://twitter.com/HMSPWLS/status/1761818315356315781 - for video.

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NATO ships join UK Carrier Strike Group for start of exercise

NATO warships have joined HMS Prince of Wales for the start of exercises off the UK coast.
The carrier and her task force practised sailing in close formation and learned how different navies operate as they began Joint Warrior – testing the readiness of the UK Carrier Strike Group and its ability to deter threats.

Royal Navy frigate HMS Portland and tanker RFA Tideforce joined Prince of Wales last week and their numbers were bolstered by Royal Canadian ship Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Charlottetown; Spanish Navy Alvaro de Bazan-class air defence frigate SNS Cristobal Colon and Danish Navy Iver Huitfeldt-class frigate HMDS Niels Juel.

The close manoeuvring was a chance to test the navigation officers and bridge teams of all the ships involved, as they overcame language barriers and sailing ships of varying sizes in tight formation.

HMS Prince of Wales is now under NATO command for the first time since 2022.

Continues at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... rike-group