A total of 14 warships from ten nations took part in this year’s iteration of NATO’s ‘Baltic Fortress’ exercise.
The drill was hosted by Lithuania and took place between May 6 and 13.
Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG-1), with Spanish F-100 frigate Álvaro de Bazán at the helm, also took part in the exercise.
Participating nations included: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Denmark and the UK.
The exercise contemplated a series of maneuvers intended to enhance the interoperability among different navies including drills on navigation, naval gunfire, mine countermeasures, replenishments at sea (RAS), maritime interdiction (MIO) and search and rescue (SAR).
The Gulf of Finland was also the theatre of a PASSEX-type exercise conducted with the Estonian Navy to boost mutual knowledge and implement common procedures and expertise. Apart from several interaction and communication exercises, two F-5 fighters and two ‘Eurofighters’ participated a series of air defense drills.