Huge fleet of NATO warships gathers off Scotland

Royal Navy warships HMS Defender and HMS Kent are at the heart of a formidable NATO task force currently off the coast of Scotland.

The aim of this robust assembly is to scrutinise the alliance’s impressive missile and air defence capabilities within the challenging expanse of the North Atlantic.

This task group comprises over 20 ships and 35 aircraft, drawn from 13 NATO allies and partners. Now eight days into an intense three-week drill, the focus is on the trial of advanced weaponry and air defence systems.

The biennial Exercise Formidable Shield is designed to test the joint force through a series of live-fire events against an array of targets ranging from subsonic to supersonic and ballistic. The exercise generates a complex ‘Integrated Air and Missile Defence’ (IAMD) scenario, leveraging the most advanced technologies globally, and assisting allies to operate seamlessly in unison.

One of the early major workouts was an aerial ‘combat’ featuring French Rafale strike fighters and the air defence destroyer HMS Defender.

“Pitting fast air against fast air requires total concentration from the fighter controllers,” Lieutenant Commander Simon Scamp, Defender’s Air Warfare Officer, explained.

“Although Defender’s team had not recently worked with the French Rafales, being able to conduct a complex sortie like this at fairly short notice demonstrates how our ability to work together is pretty much ‘plug-and-play’. The Type 45 is one of the most capable airspace battle management platforms in the world and it is always a pleasure to work with the French Air Force.”

The Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO), under the leadership of Royal Navy Rear Admiral James Morley, are overseeing the exercise.

“Formidable Shield is the premier IAMD and live-fire rehearsal in the European theatre, and highlights STRIKFORNATO’s proficiency in seamlessly integrating allied and partner maritime and air forces into combined operations,” said Rear Admiral Morley, deputy commander, STRIKFORNATO.

He further emphasised the importance of such exercises, stating, “The strength and unmatched cohesion of our trans-Atlantic Alliance – now at 31 members with the addition of our capable Finnish allies – lies in our mutual commitment to one another and to the deterrence and defence of the Euro-Atlantic area. This commitment shines through in complex, high-end evolutions like Formidable Shield.”

As the exercise unfolds over the remaining weeks, the world will watch as the NATO alliance demonstrates its readiness, unity, and technological prowess in this impressive display of air and missile defence capabilities.