NATO ships take part in Greek mine countermeasures exercise

Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2) practised the latest mine countermeasures techniques during Exercise Ariadne 24.

Hosted by Greece, the exercise involved a series of challenging mine countermeasures tasks.

These included very shallow water operations – to facilitate explosive ordnance disposal and improvised explosive device disposal; autonomous underwater vehicle employment; and mine recovery operations in a multi-threat and multi-national environment based on realistic scenarios.

According to a NATO news release:

“Ariadne 24 was fruitful for SNMCMG2 as a NATO Standing Force, the exercise was well-planned, organised and coordinated, with a well-built scenario. It provided the opportunity for our minehunters to operate in an environment of variable bottom type and environmental conditions. This exercise was a good opportunity to promote interoperability and mutual understanding among participants of different nations and commands, as well as maintaining a high readiness level for SNMCMG2”

Ariadne is an annual mine countermeasures exercise, hosted by the Chief of the Hellenic Fleet, which aims to improve the capabilities of units conducting mine countermeasures operations in a multi-threat environment. It also aims to enhance operational readiness, cooperation and interoperability among participants.

SNMCMG2 is currently made up of Hellenic flagship HS Heracles (A-472), Italian minehunter ITS Viareggio (M-5559), Turkish ship TCG Anamur (M-269) and a Croatian Dive Team on board ITS Viareggio. SNMCMG2 is one of four standing naval forces that comprise the maritime component of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), which is part of the NATO Response Force (NRF).