As part of preparations ahead of the now underway Exercise Joint Warrior, Belgian minehunter Bellis and Polish frigate ORP General Tadeusz Kościuszko visited the City of Glasgow.
Exercise Joint Warrior will run across the UK for two weeks.
In total, some 11,500 military personnel, 45 ships and submarines, and 30 aircraft will participate, with the action split into three distinctive phases:
During the first phase – running from October 1 to 5 – there will be maritime activity in exercise areas off the West Coast of Scotland, the Pentland Firth, and Cape Wrath. From October 6 to 8, the activity will move to the North Sea and Irish Sea, before heading to the South Coast of England for the third and final phase from October 9 to 14.
Belgian minehunter Bellis and Polish frigate ORP General Tadeusz Kościuszko are in Glasgow. I went for a quick look with my drone earlier this week as I covered the arrival of NATO vessels in the city ahead of Exercise Joint Warrior, enjoy! pic.twitter.com/Mn7hRBvdIV
— George Allison (@geoallison) October 1, 2022
Participating nations this year include: the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and the United States.
As well as activity off the UK coast, there will also be Merlin Mark 2 helicopters flying from Prestwick, as well as RAF Typhoons and UK P-8 Poseidon aircraft operating from RAF Lossiemouth.
Exercise Joint Warrior is a joint and combined exercise, involving all three branches of the UK armed forces – Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Army.
Links forged between members states
According to the Royal Navy website, this massive multinational war exercise involves warships, aircraft, marines and troops from UK, NATO and allied forces.
“The exercise doesn’t only allow participating units to hone their specialist roles within a larger war-style setting – it also helps foster vital links between the UK, NATO and other allied militaries. The aim is to provide a complex environment in which the participants can train together, honing tactics and skills in preparation for deployment as a Combined Joint Task Force.”
The scenario for each Joint Warrior is designed to reflect contemporary political tensions – such as the War on Terror on previous exercises or the invasion of a NATO member on more recent exercises – and to simulate the hostilities that might result from them.
The ultimate aim? “To assure maximum preparedness in the face of any threat.”
Shock, horror. A Belgian minesweeper armed with a popgun in a major exercise conducting war games!
So it’s not just our River B2 out in the Pacific then….
This just popped into my head when I read you’re post.
It was a viciously sharp slice of mango, wasn’t it, sir