Brunssum, the Netherlands - The multinational maritime exercise ‘Dynamic Mariner 20’ concluded last Friday off the coast of France. Dynamic Mariner 20 gave NATO’s Response Force Maritime Component (NRF/M) the opportunity to test and train its interoperability with other NATO forces.
The exercise brought together 31 surface ships, 1 submarine, 3 maritime patrol aircraft and other air assets as well as personnel, from Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States.
The NRF/M, which has been led by Spain throughout the year, annually rotates and will be taken under the command of France in 2021.
The NATO Response Force (NRF) is a highly capable, multinational force made up of land, air, maritime and Special Operations Forces (SOF) components that the Alliance can deploy quickly, wherever needed.
Iron Spear
NATO’s annual multinational armoured warfare competition, Iron Spear 2020, came to a close this week in Latvia. Under the leadership of NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup, Latvia, 12 different NATO member nations participated in order to test the full range of capabilities of their armoured units and to maintain the highest standards of readiness.
This time it is Norway who is to be congratulated for taking first place in both the Tank and Infantry Fighting Vehicles competitions. The event was followed by a firepower demonstration in both day and night-time settings, showing off the full range of capabilities of NATO’s armoured elements.
Exercise Joint Warrior 20
Exercise Joint Warrior, which concluded this week, brought together multi-national maritime, land, and air units in northern Scotland for critical joint training in a multi-threat environment off the coast of Scotland. Over 6.000 personnel, 28 ships, two submarines and 81 aircraft including NATO’s Early Warning AWACS E-3A, coming from 13 NATO nations took part in this complex exercise scenario.
The participating nations were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the UK, and the US.
With the UK aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth leading the NATO Carrier Strike Group, the exercise incorporated surface, subsurface, airborne, and land assets in a joint training exercise for the NATO units.
Task Force Commander, Captain Joseph Gagliano, from the Royal Navy said: “Joint Warrior is our premier venue for recertifying our ships for fleet operations, and the synergy with the Royal Navy could not be better.”
The participation of NATO’s AWACS component in Joint Warrior provided unparalleled surveillance and communication support to combat and command elements throughout NATO forces. This facilitated the identification potential obstacles in a controlled environment, allowing NATO to maintain its constant operational readiness.