NATO ships, subs and aircraft hunt each other in Atlantic

NATO has launched Dynamic Mongoose 25, a major anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise in the High North, bringing together Allied naval and air forces off the coast of Iceland to test their most advanced undersea warfare capabilities.

The exercise, which runs through late April, is hosted by the Icelandic Coast Guard and directed by NATO’s Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), with support from nations including the UK, US, Canada, Germany, Poland, Norway, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

The annual exercise is taking place in the cold waters of the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom-Norway (GIUK-N) Gap, a key strategic corridor for maritime traffic. The participating surface ships, submarines, maritime patrol aircraft, and helicopters will train together in a series of real-time, multi-domain scenarios aimed at detecting, tracking, and countering submarine threats in difficult environmental conditions.

“Dynamic Mongoose is an extremely important anti-submarine exercise in the High North which provides an excellent opportunity for NATO Allied nations to train together and build upon our already impressive interoperable capabilities,” said Royal Navy Captain Steven McAllister, Assistant Chief of Staff, Submarines at MARCOM.

“The GIUK Gap is a critical maritime crossroad that NATO will exercise in to ensure freedom of action in the region whilst maintaining our levels of readiness and sustaining values-based security across the seas.”

Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) is among the forces participating. Commodore Arjen S. Warnaar, Commander of SNMG1, highlighted the exercise’s operational value: “Dynamic Mongoose 2025 is a very beneficial exercise for SNMG1. It brings a varied array of NATO ASW capabilities together in the crucial GIUK-N gap, where NATO requires an effective counter to the submarine threat. This provides our air, surface and subsurface units a very realistic training opportunity — one we will put to good use.”

Crews will alternate roles as hunter and hunted, challenging both submariners and surface forces to respond to rapidly shifting tactical environments. Maritime patrol aircraft are supporting the exercise by conducting reconnaissance, surveillance, and simulated strike missions against adversary subs, strengthening NATO’s ability to protect vital sea lines of communication.

With Iceland’s strategic location anchoring NATO’s efforts in the North Atlantic, Dynamic Mongoose 25 underscores the Alliance’s enduring commitment to readiness, deterrence, and defence in an increasingly contested maritime domain.