The exercise
will feature anti-submarine warfare, air defence, intercepting suspect
vessels and amphibious landings. A total of 49 ships, 61 aircraft, one
submarine, and a combined amphibious landing force of 700 U.S. Finnish
and Swedish troops will participate in the drills. Fourteen NATO Allies
are joined this year by NATO partners Finland, Georgia and Sweden. Overall,
5,600 troops will be involved.
"This exercise represents an important opportunity for our forces,
as allies and partners, to enhance our ability to work together and
strengthen capabilities required to maintain regional security,"
said Vice Admiral James Foggo III, the Commander of Naval Striking and
Support Forces NATO. He added: "this exercise will be conducted
in a truly joint environment, and I look forward to working with and
learning from so many different nations and services".
While BALTOPS is a United States-led exercise, Vice Admiral Foggo and
his NATO staff are responsible for executing this year's exercise. Participants
include Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden,
Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The annual BALTOPS exercise is not held in response to any specific
threat. The exercise has been held since 1971, and is now in its 43rd
year. It is also part of the ALLIED SHIELD series of exercises.
This month, NATO and Allies will conduct a series of training events.
The ALLIED SHIELD series includes not only BALTOPS but also Exercise
NOBLE JUMP, the first training deployment of Allied high-readiness units
under the new Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) framework.
SABER STRIKE, a significant land exercise in the Baltic States; and
TRIDENT JOUST, a NRF command and control exercise in Romania.
In total, approximately 15,000 troops from 19 different Allies and 3
partner nations will participate in this series of training events taking
place across the Alliance. All of these exercises are defensive and
are a part of NATO’s assurance measures in response to challenges
on NATO’s southern and eastern periphery.
The activities will focus on enhancing interoperability, readiness and
responsiveness among Allied and partner nations. ALLIED SHIELD demonstrates
that NATO members are united in their commitment to collective defence. |
