Wargaming in the Baltic Sea
Two British warships and their sailors recently joined up with 3,000 NATO allies in the Baltic Sea
Once every year, navies from allied and international partners descend to the Baltic Sea to take part in Exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS).
BALTOPS has taken place every year since 1972, with the 49th iteration focusing entirely on operations on, above and below the waves.
This year 19 nations, with roughly 30 ships and around 3,000 personnel were tested in live training events focusing on core naval warfare scenarios including air defence, anti-submarine warfare and minehunting.
This exercise demonstrated the importance of the Baltic region to NATO and highlights NATO and partner nations working together to protect the freedom of the alliance’s shores, as well as keeping the sea lanes open.
This was the first was major European maritime event since the outbreak of COVID-19 — to keep everyone safe, the usual amphibious component was cancelled.
The Royal Navy’s Frigate HMS Kent and minehunter HMS Ramsey led the UK’s involvement in the biggest war games of 2020 in the Baltic Sea.
RAF Typhoon Jets stationed in Lithuania also joined in on the fun. They had a dynamic role in carrying out simulated air attacks — allowing ships to practice their defensive skills.
HMS Kent arrived in the Baltics after joint-training with the US Navy in the Barents Sea — the first venture into waters off the northernmost tip of Europe in more than a decade by a Royal Navy warship.
With no submarines taking part this year, HMS Kent was expected to deal with multiple threats from aircraft, boats and submarines, using her suite of cutting edge sensors and weapon systems to detect and engage them.
This is the second year running that the minehunter — HMS Ramsey — has taken part. She arrived in the region in May to take her place with a NATO mine warfare group. She has spent the past couple of weeks operating off Estonia and Lithuania, dealing with leftover ordnance from the two world wars.
HMS Kent was assigned to the ‘Orange Forces’ from the fictional state of Bothnia — the enemy — in this year’s scenario. This meant her crew had to approach BALTOPS from a very different perspective.
“Playing the bad guys for a change rather than playing ourselves is very different. It really forced her crew to look at how they would normally do things, then doing something sneaky instead.”
Meanwhile, HMS Ramsey was involved in nine days of intensive minehunting alongside seven ships, plus two drones from the German Navy — especially close to the Danish and Swedish coasts.
HMS Ramsey is remaining in the Baltic with a NATO mine warfare group while HMS Kent is concentrating on training around the UK and in the North Atlantic, before a well-deserved period of maintenance and leave in her home port of Portsmouth over the summer.
