Joint Expeditionary Force naval vessels escorted Danish and British supply ships as they delivered military vehicles and equipment to resupply the UK-led NATO Battlegroup in Estonia.

The Ministry of Defence says that Royal Navy vessels have joined ships, aircraft and personnel from six Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) nations to provide support to NATO and bolster security in the Baltic Sea.

“HMS Northumberland and sister ship HMS Richmond joined Danish frigate HDMS Niels Juel and warships from Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for maritime patrols in the strategically important region. JEF naval vessels escorted Danish and British supply ships as they delivered military vehicles and equipment to resupply the UK-led NATO Battlegroup in Estonia, where troops from the UK and Denmark are serving side by side. The UK recently doubled the number of troops in Estonia as part of wider NATO efforts to strengthen its eastern defences following Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

As well as patrolling and delivering the vital supplies, the warships and aircraft conducted a series of joint exercises to demonstrate and hone their seamless interoperability. Danish F-16s and Swedish Gripen fighter jets rehearsed air defence tactics with the vessels, while one of the UK’s new RAF Poseidon P-8A submarine hunter aircraft practised working with the ships to spot enemy vessels.”

Major General Jim Morris DSO, the Commander of the UK Standing Joint Force HQ (SJFHQ) which leads the JEF, said:

“Activities such as these in the Baltic Sea are routine business for us and our JEF partners, in one of our principal areas of geographical interest. Given the current level of aggression being displayed by Russia, there has never been a more important time to ensure that freedom of navigation is maintained in the Baltic Sea.”

You can read more about this here.

Tom Dunlop
Tom has spent the last 13 years working in the defence industry, specifically military and commercial shipbuilding. His work has taken him around Europe and the Far East, he is currently based in Scotland.

55 COMMENTS

  1. Let’s hope that the Russian Navy are not ordered to interdict the Baltic. Or for Putin to decide to open a land corridor from Belarus to the Kaliningrad enclave through Lithuania and/or Poland, challenging NATO to respond. Our logistically extended battlegroup would be isolated

    I wonder what Biden would do if they did

    • With his ‘in the name of …Putin must go’ remark Biden has lit the blue touch paper and retired to a safe distance 😉

        • To be honest Biden is only saying what we would all like to see happen; he is not two faced, but authentic. He says what he thinks; that Putin is a butcher. The diplomats can sort the fallout, which so far seems to be positive. The remark has forced the Kremlin to attempt to claim the high moral ground by saying they are not seeking regime change in Kyiv. Result 😂
          I do wonder whether it was unscripted.

          • Beijing biden has no credibility whatsoever. His entire election was allegedly corrupt leaving 50%+ of the US populous now believing he is an illegitimate president. True or false it makes no difference, things have only gone downhill from there.

            His senility is being used to hide the true motives for the Afghanistan and other debacles. I’m sure you are aware, that a communist Chinese concern with drug addled Hunter Biden “sleeping” in the corner. Has just agreed contracts to mine in Afghanistan. Not that the disgraceful affair has been touted in the media, yet! Everyone is watching sleepy Joe waffle about using chemical weapons.
            Do you really want to see Putin assassinated and chemical weapons used in Ukraine or was it Iran. Jabbering Joe considers the two failed states interchangeable.

          • Bit of a rant there George. I have faith that my man and his US state department team will by Easter have been seen to have spoken and acted in such a way as to bring about peace in Ukraine while avoiding WW3, re-unifying Nato while simultaneously encouraging the Russian military to shepherd their leader to the nearest therapy centre. 😉

          • Agree entirely. Biden has no credibility at all, neither had the blonde fella either. It amazes me how the US can claim to be the ‘bright beacon’ of democracy, when billionaire OAP’s buy the vote in the first place. The last decent President they had was Obama.

          • I agree with everything except Obama. When he was elected I was very pleased. It was in my mind the endpoint of the abolition of slavery. Fulfilment of the much heralded American dream and that of Martin Luther King.

            However, when Obama was seen by the entire world to grovel to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and then bequest trillions of dollars to the evil ayatollahs of Iran. It became clear that he was not what he claimed. The backward step of race riots in US cities fueled by Democrats, BLM and ANTIFA. Were the direct consequence of his time n the White House.

            I think Reagan was likely the best in my lifetime. He brought the USSR to its knees, winning the Cold War. The fact that everyone since has failed to bring Russia back into the fold as a free nation is not Reagan’s fault. 30 years on, Russia could have been and perhaps should be part of a new NATO type alliance.

          • Yes Reagan was a better President than people gave him credit for.

            To be honest, I don’t quite see the connection between Obama, and race riots. Who or what is fuelling racial tensions, well maybe US intelligence agencies, are aware as to who benefits from perpetuating race trouble/wars.

            There is always a reason, an agenda, a sinister agent behind such things, someone with lots of money usually.

          • Sadly biden on a good day is a weak, bumbling, corrupt, senile old fool. Likely to cause wars everywhere.

          • Truth spoken boldly but not, sadly, by the media who continue to cover for his and his son’s corruption. It’s good to see that Trump has launched a Federal lawsuit against Hilary and the Democratic National Committee for their propagation of the Russia collusion hoax – that some people, astonishingly, still believe was real!

          • Because Trump and his family aren’t corrupt and he didn’t just ask Putin the war criminal for a favour🙄

    • Its not like NATO hasn’t spent the last month concentrating most of it’s intelligence, ELINT and tracking technology pinpointing every major Russian target west of Moscow.

      So we are totally unprepared for that sneak attack, if it was to happen.

      There wouldn’t be a plan for the immediate destruction of Russia’s offensive positions in that attack and to neutralise the invasion in Ukraine at the same time as Article 5 was triggered.

      I doubt a single tank would need to start its engine before the airforces of the west made a massive dent in that idea.

    • “Let’s hope that the Russian Navy are not ordered to interdict the Baltic.”

      I don’t think their rust buckets would even try and go toe to toe with a NATO fleet – they are not idiots and know what would be meted out to them if things went hot.

      “Or for Putin to decide to open a land corridor from Belarus to the Kaliningrad”

      NATO air assets would squash that in about 5 minutes. Can you imagine w what a flight of Typhoon/Gripen/F35/F16/F18 with modern missiles would do to a column of Russian tanks?

      NATO jets can be accurate at close to ceiling. So out of MANPAD range.

      Never mind us using our considerable stockpile of highly accurate Storm Shadow and the US using its Cruise missile stockpiles to suppress Russian air defences.

      Then factor in the drone fleets.

      • Hi SB,

        Nice summing up, mate.

        Given what the Ukrianian’s have achieved against the Russian Army with a few MANPAD’s and lots of determination I cannot see the average Russian soldier being overly keen on taking on NATO.

        Morale appears to be rock bottom and given there are reports of at least one Russian brigade commander being killed by his own troops I would suggest that the maniacs in the Kremlin should look to history to see what happens when a poorly equipped and abused Russian Army decides enough is enough…

        Putin is in trouble. Thing is, has anyone told him yet?

        Cheers CR

        • Nobody will have told Putin that he’s in trouble, they are all too frightened of him. That was obvious at his televised security council meeting.

      • Before the current Ukraine war kicked off, I would have disagreed with you, saying the multi-layered Russian ground air defence systems, would be enough to put a massive dent in our ability to interdict a mechanized push. Now I’m not so sure?

        On paper the layered system of S400, S300, Tor and Buk backed up with the newer versions of Pantsir, would be a force to be reckoned with. Now it seems the humble Bayraktur TB2 drone can take it apart piece by piece.

        But this in some ways goes against the combat reports coming from Libya. Where Pantsirs have had an overriding success in downing these types of unmanned aircraft, especially the Chinese Wing Loong drones. But then the Wing Loong is quite a bit bigger than a TB2.

        The latest Pantsir-SM that uses the 8×8 truck chassis and has been seem in several images destroyed by air attacks by TB2s. It uses two radars one working in the S-band (2 to 4Ghz) for volume searching and a tracking radar operating in the EHF band. Which normally correlates to Ka-band (27 to 40GHz). But the 1RS2-1/1E tracking radar it actually uses is known to operate in the Ku-band (12 to 18GHz). It is a radar that has its origins with the Shilka system. It is a standard mechanically scanned mono-pulse doppler radar. Which means its vulnerable to EW attacks, especially sidelobe attacks. Images of the insides of a Pantsir, shows that the combat management system harks back to the early 90s at best.

        Judging by its performance in Syria, Israel fully understood how to jam its radar. Which was seen very successfully in several Israeli Air Force released videos showing the attacks. Its also suspected that the radar was susceptible to attacks by “non-disclosed” attacks by probable UAE Rafaels in Libya. The reports that were seen coming from Libya, have shown that the Pantsir is mostly using its thermal cameras and electro-optical system to search for and track targets as they have been targeted by both EW and radar homing missiles. Which may explain why it is doing better against these types of drones.

        The 1RS2-1/1E radar has a published detection figures of a 2m2 radar cross section (RCS) target at 24km (15 miles). Which is pretty rubbish against stealth aircraft or small drones. The F35 has been calculated to have a RCS of 0.000142m2 using publicly available software (the true figure should be smaller, as I believe they used a generic radar absorbent material (RAM) model, to base the embedded RAM on). This means in theory, a F35 could get within 1km of a Panstir before its tracking radar can lock on to it.

        The TB2 is not a purposely designed stealth aircraft. It is predominantly made from fibreglass, which is transparent to most radars, especially higher frequency ones. So the majority of energy within the radar pulse will pass through the airframe. Metallic components within the airframe will reflect the radar pulse. So items such as the engine, EO turret, armament, cabling, flight control actuators, bolts etc. These will add up to produce the TB2’s RCS. Which by empirical data shows that it is less than 1m2, otherwise the Pantsir would see it and soot it down! I think this may explain why a TB2 can get so close to the Panstir, without it being seen and launch an attack on one.

        When you then consider that the other Russian medium and long range air defence systems systems rely on Pantsir to protect them, especially from low level attacks. Then perhaps a NATO strike will have a much higher chance of not only destroying a mechanized thrust, but also its air defence protection as well!

        • I agree the Israelis have been very effective at switching off/ jamming all of the Russian systems.

          I’d also add into that using SF / real time satellites to designate or convey accurate location data that the battery/radar can be hit from outside the risk radius.

          Nothing is ever lossless.

          I’d also state that another reason for the Ukrainian success is that they are not attacking full frontal but using asymmetric tactics.

          • Their SF have been training with UK and US SF for the last 5 years, similarly with their regular units. The obvious tactics with countering the Russian juggernaut, would be asymmetric, if you have a much smaller military. But hit and run can only go so far. At some point you need to find a means for an effective counter. Which is I think what they have done around Kyiv.

            I still can’t understand the Russian logic. They have known and been up against the TB2, in Libya, Syria and Donbass/Luhansk. So they should have developed a means to counter it. But clearly they haven’t, as the TB2 can still pretty much attack at will.

            I am surprised that the Israelis released those videos. As they clearly show how effective their electronic countermeasures were working.

            If Ukraine had the means, I wonder if they would launch strike over the border into Belarus and Russia itself. An SF operation to take out rail infrastructure and motorway bridges would be an excellent way of further disrupting Russia’s logistics. But would that then drag in Belarus?

            Another thought to ponder is that it is 469 miles between Kyiv and Moscow. Does Ukraine have any Kh55s left, that were said to be scrapped? I guess as the Kremlin hasn’t been attacked, then the answer is probably no.

          • I think NATO may have helped upgrade the TB2’s to be a bit more hardened?

            The Ukrainians do have their own drone Skunk Works. It may be that they have taken the basic drone and upgraded it?

            I think the Israelis were saying, quite clearly, this stuff is carp don’t think you can take pot shots at us and then hide behind it?

            I agree it is very odd that the Ukrainians haven’t taken out the main rail bridges as the Russians depend on them for logistics. Unless of course they want the gear within easy reach so they can wipe it out?

            I’m pretty sure that if the Ukrainians attacked mother Russian that Mad Vlad would take that as a green signal to unleash anything he had that worked. It would also be a PR own goal of massive proportions as it would likely hit civilians.

          • The TB2 had a lot of design input from Ukraine to produce the TB2 Block 2. Ukraine ordered 48 that would be produced in the Ukraine from 2020. Companies like the Kyiv based Luch had designed and produced the Sokil 300 UAV, which is of a comparable size to the TB2.

            I can’t find what the Block 2 differences are to the standard TB2.

          • Israel have an agreement with Russians regarding Syria. They can attack everything that is Iran related.

        • The US assessed Ukraine Air defences and assisted in deployment techniques. That no doubt included jamming and spoofing techniques against Soviet era systems.
          TB2 supposedly has is own EW suite, Turkey has been hoovering up Syrain and Russian emissions. The operator can probably transmit some jamming.
          NATO is giving live time Elint and Russian Air defence locations. Just as a stealth mission is planned, I suspect the TB2 techies can also plan the route, use its slow speed, beam manouever etc against any lookdown radars that might scan it. (Mainstay AEW are staying far away apparently)
          Russian tactics seem poor. They appear ro be reluctant to move higher end systems such as S400 into Ukraine to support forces and the attacking ground units pressing ahead of the umbrella.
          If the TB2 stays close to the Ukrane front line there is the option that Ukraine artillery can provide counter fire to any Russian Air defense that shows itself
          I think the Ukraine forces are just playing far smarter than Russia, partly because Nato are reporting every Russian move.

          • The US gained access to the Pantsir SHORAD system when a fully working one was captured in Libya. I am absolutely certain that the Pantsir went back to the US to be fully tested and probably still is. With the knowledge gained from the testing given over to the Ukrainians discreetly.

            The S400 can cover a fair chunk of Ukraine from behind the Belarus and Russian borders. Anything flying low level it, like any ground based radar, is hampered by the Earth’s curvature. Russia will be using the Tor (SA-15) and Buk (SA11/17) along with the Tanguska and Pantsir to provide the bulk of its “in theatre” air defences. As these are supposed to be mobile and provide the low to medium level defences.

            On paper, these four air defence system should provide air cover against low flying aircraft and smallish UAVs like the TB2. However, as I pointed out in another thread. The radar used by the Pantsir struggles to see targets with a radar cross section (RCS) of below 1m2. So they have to rely on their thermal and optical cameras to search for and track them. Which makes them vulnerable to a coordinated attack.

    • Lets hope that they people of the Kaliningrad enclave, decide to leave Russia and join one of the NATO nations. I’m sure with a little encouragement from the right factions, it could be encouraged.
      Beijing biden is a worse than useless. A soon to be impeached corrupt senile old goat. Following the feckless surrender of Afghanistan to his CCP paymasters. I cannot imagine the US forces would follow any order to go to war that he issued.

      • Maybe you’re not aware that the native population of Kalingrad Obst where mostly deported or fled after the war being replaced with Soviet settlers. So it’s highly unlikely they’d vote to leave Russia.

      • The “feckless surrender ” as you call it was a deal with the Taliban that was done by Donald Trump, you know, that self proclaimed ‘stable genius ‘ in much the same way as he abruptly pulled US special forces from Syria. Probably as a favour to Putin. Not sure what is meant Beijing Biden, but it sounds like one of the lazy and inaccurate slurs chanted by those MAGA illiterates. Trump was impeached twice.

        Kaliningrad is firmly Russian. Do you really think Putin would respect or tolerate such an election?

        • The biden crime family have received millions of pounds from the Chinese communist party and despite denials, all the dirty dealings are documented on Hunter Biden’s laptop. Not only is sleepy Joe unfit for office, he is corrupt and must be impeached and charged with treason.
          As for the feckless surrender of Afghanistan being a deal done by President Trump. You really need to stop believing CNN, they said Hunter’s laptop was a Russian hoax, despite knowing fine well that it wasn’t.

          • Ha ha!! This the same laptop that was ‘discovered ‘ deux ex machina by the demented Rudy Giuliani in some New York repair shop ? Nobody believed that rubbish.
            Trump proved himself everyday to be unfit for office, his conspiracies to commit crimes and treason against the US are well documented . It was the cowardice of the Republican party that is helping him evade justice.

            I’ve never watched CNN, but it sounds like you need to find another news source that isn’t Tucker Carlson.

  2. It is telling that the Swedes are integrated into these deployments!
    First overflight by a Russian aircraft of their country and I would think they are in with any NATO actions!

    • Finland is also cosying up to NATO as well.

      Both countries are having a serious rethink about their neutrality. Norway has face increasing Russian incursions across the boarder in recent years. It is unmarked in the high north and the Russians just claim they got lost!

      Cheers CR

    • Russian flew two missions very nearly over the eastern side of the Gotland Island at the begin of the Ukraine conflict. Which is why they were so quick with the protects, sanctions and cosying up with NATO.

  3. Lithuania and Latvia can provide small patrol vessels unless you count their minesweepers.

    However, with most of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, what might have been more appropriate that 2*T23s might have been a T45/23 combo.

    As to labelling Russian ships as rust buckets, that’s not what their corvettes look like at all. Add the land attack missiles being given gratis to the Ukrainians and I’d suggest that UkrMil are probably very weary of them and not nearly so dismissive.

    • Given how well their weapons systems generally perform or because the ships are bristling with guns and things that go bang?

      God knows how accurate those missiles really are? The hit rate appears to be pretty awful – unless of course schools and hospitals are the intended targets.

      My opinion of the functionality of Russian systems was never high but this war has downgraded that.

      • Well the staging barracks circa Lviv got the good news pretty accurately.

        It’s old maxim, never under-estimate your foe; the performance of the Russian military has been lamentable – and I would embrace a more robust response by NATO to the blustering of Poo Tin c. Airborne.

        However, some of their systems are very competent at delivering destruction.

        • I don’t under estimate them.

          I do think we urgently need more anti missile systems and to boost our stockpiles of CAMM / CAMM-ER.

          Then Astor-NT and a launch system.

          We need a protection mechanism for bases in the UK such as radar controlled 40mm / 57mm with CAMM / CAMM-ER at critical locations.

          We also need more offensive punch -quite urgently and to get things like nuclear depth charges back into inventory.

  4. Little bit of trivia, that’s the Danish navy ship Niels Juel one of the 3 Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates the Danes have and its hull is the one is the one the UK will use for the RNs Type 31e ships. 

    • Also interesting is that she has two superfiring OTO 3” fitted. Bring back the broadside, even with relatively small guns. Now if we could just persuade the MOD that Type 32 or Type 83 needs two 5” fitted forrard and we would have a very good looking ship!

      • Apart from the 76mm guns, the missile deck looks as follows. CIWS is a single 35mm cannon overlooking the flight deck. (Hope the image insertion works…)

        • Interesting photo, thank you. Given that the ESSM can be quad-packed in a Mk. 41 VLS cell, is there a reason they’ve instead gone for a distinct Mk. 56 VLS solution for the ESSM? I’d have thought another 16-cell Mk. 41 cluster would have been more versatile.

          • I think the Mk56 launchers are on a so-called Standard Flex module, which can easily be replaced. The Mk41s are integrated to the ship.

  5. One can always learn from history so let us hope that the West doesn’t make the mistake that Hitler and his Nazi German Army made in the last war , incidentally Churchill gloomily forecast, it would be all over in 2 months -then Hitler would turn to invading the UK . Speech to the people by radio –https://www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/winston-churchills-broadcast-on-the-soviet-german-war.html , and then despite the fact Russia entering the war meant we not alone , Hiltler hadn’t yet declared war on the USA . Then in 1945, a touch of treachery >>.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Unthinkable . .My problem is I am 92 and recall the current NATO ally of the UK , bombing my home city of Manchester . I also served in RN SMs before and later in NATO creating a presence in Northen Waters to deter that terrible man Stalin — I am sure of Putin doesn’t have the absolute power of Stain, nor his vicious inclinations to all people ,including his own ,his crime is he is a patriotic Russian trying to correct the problems created by the untidy break up of the USSR Anyway the documented history clearly shows the view of our great leader was that once Russia was defeated , Hitler would invade Britain — well glad he was wrong , didn’t fancy Nazi SS marching down our street . One more thing– Fascism was the political basis of of our three main enemies–I am not surprised this disturbs Russia — it is alive and well and an ally of the West !!!https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/03/26/world/azov-battalion-ukraine-russia/ PS can see all this getting the DELETE as it doesn’t suit modern British thinking , but one tries in memory of all our people who fought fascism in WW2 at great cost , but won only to lose in 2022.

  6. On the subject of Western Naval unit quality ,I suggest a look at pages 313 and 314 in Admiral I.J.GALATIN,USN [Ret[ >>SUBMARINE ADMIRAL , where he outlines the inferiority of the LOS ANGELES SSN compare to the SOVIET SUBMARINES of the same era and how fortunate the USN was in not having to go to war against them . The Admiral was the skipper of the famous submarine of WW2 USS HALIBUT. Was awarded the Navy Cross, three Silver Stars and the Navy Unit Commendation . The LOS ANGELES class are apparently still in service. My point is simple — don’t assume that all NATO warships are superior to those of the Russian Navy . My own experiences are a lifetime ago 1953 in the RN diesel submarine TIPTOE, when we got caught by a Red Navy ASW diesel craft group in occupied East German waters –they were very good and dropped an exercise grenade whenever we made move — we finally made deep water ! See a similar yarn about USS GUDGEON about three years in Soviet Far Eastern waters — though they ran out of battery and suffered the ignominy of being escorted out to international waters . I look forward to seeing the end of this story in the Baltic and hope the NATO ships only get dummy weapons aimed at them .

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