Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMCG2) performed two days of exercises in the Aegean Sea with Turkish and Greek Navies at the end of last week.
After leaving Aksaz on the 18th June, the Italian flagship frigate Fasan and the Turkish frigate Salihreis were joined by two units of the Turkish Navy to perform a manoeuvring and communication exercise south of the Turkish port.
“The training was conducted with the Turkish frigate Orucreis and the fast patrol boat Gurbet. The next day, 19 June, another manoeuvring and communication exercise took place in the Aegean Sea near Crete, with the Hellenic Navy frigate Kountouriotis.”
“The exercises that we are conducting since the beginning of our deployment with the Allied navies of Greece and Turkey, have allowed us to maintain our readiness at sea, as well as our interoperability between multinational forces. We are continuously working to demonstrate our Allies and adversaries, that despite the recent pandemic, NATO forces at sea have maintained and continuously improved their capabilities. These two days allowed me also to address a special farewell to both navies that have provided me with largest number of training events” commented Rear Admiral Paolo Fantoni, Italian Navy, Commander of SNMG2.
SNMG2, under Italian command since December 2019, is now comprised of two frigates: the Italian flagship FREMM-class frigate Fasan and the Turkish Barbaros-class frigate Salihreis.
Story via Allied Maritime Command Public Affairs Office
Greece and Turkey sure do hate each other… And turkey should be banned from NATO! But I’m sure nato needs it’s assets, they do have more assets than i first though, more than the UK In lots of areas.
And turkey has far more fighter jets than the UK they have 290 odd….
Maybe more in numbers but certainly not in terms of quality and effectiveness. – Turkey has an army made up essentially of conscripts, ie not well trained or motivated. – Turkish tanks are cold war relics mostly Patton M48 and M60 (1950s design), and some old versions of Leopards, they have shown how bad they are in Syria. – Turkish air force are old F16 C and D models from the 80s, completely outclassed by Typhoon. – Turkish Navy has a spanish based heli platform, but no F35B, and their frigates are second hand Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates bought… Read more »
The Turkish Armed Forces are a bit of a mixed Bag – yes the Army is as you say Conscript based and a lot of Senior Ranks were purged after the failed Coup attempt.Their F16’s are home built,and with AMRAAM have already proved how effective they can be.They have a thriving Defence Industry and are close to re-equipping their MBT force with the Altay.Also their Navy does use Hand -me-downs but has its own Designs of Corvette/Frigate being built with Destroyers to follow.Also in Northern Syria they proved how modern Warfare will be conducted with the use of Drones etc,so… Read more »