NATO warships engage in anti-submarine warfare training

In the frigid waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, NATO’s Dynamic Mongoose 24 exercise has brought together ships, submarines, aircraft, and thousands of personnel from 10 allied nations to sharpen their anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-surface warfare (ASuW) skills.

Running from 29 April to 10 May, this annual exercise spans from Norway to Iceland in the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom-Norway (GIUK-N) Gap.

Hosted this year by Norway, with events occurring from Stavanger to Reykjavik, Iceland, Dynamic Mongoose 24 focuses on training submarine crews to evade detection while enhancing the capability of surface vessels and aircraft to locate and neutralise potential threats beneath the waves.

For the first time since Sweden’s accession as a full member of NATO on 7 March, a Swedish Navy’s Gotland-class submarine is participating in the drills.

“We are excited to incorporate the stealth of one of Sweden’s advanced, silent Gotland-class submarines into Dynamic Mongoose this year,” stated U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Thomas Wall, Commander, Submarines NATO, in a press release.

“We’ve been collaborating with the Swedish Navy for many years, so the interoperability is already there. They bring the experience of a submarine crew well versed in shallow water operations, which firmly enhances our collective defence in the region.”

The exercise also features contributions from submarines of the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, along with aircraft from Canada, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Surface ships participating include the multinational Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1), commanded by Spanish Navy Rear Admiral Joaquin Ruiz Escagedo aboard the flagship ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbon, and additional ships from Germany, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom.

Throughout Dynamic Mongoose 24, each unit will engage in a range of submarine-warfare operations, with submarines alternating roles between hunter and hunted, closely integrated with air and surface forces.

Rear Admiral Wall emphasised the strategic importance of such drills in a press release, stating, “As NATO’s maritime force, we leverage exercises like Dynamic Mongoose to hone our team’s proficiency in anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, safeguarding the Alliance against multi-domain threats. The crew of every single submarine, ship, and aircraft participating in this exercise brings a unique perspective and valuable capability to the table. I continue to be proud of the work they have done, and now it’s time to put it all into practice.”