(by Pietro Guastamacchia)
NATO kicks off Neptune Strike 2024,
a naval and amphibious exercise, which involves over 4,600 men,
ships and vehicles from over 15 allies. It extends from the
eastern Mediterranean to the Baltic coast.
Headquartered in the exercise are three European aircraft
carriers: the Spanish Juan Carlos I, the Italian Cavour and the
French Charles De Gaulle, which handed over their commands to
NATO Central Command until 10 May. The participation of the
Turkish armed forces with the aircraft carrier Anadolu, of those
of Albania, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy,
Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Turkey, Sweden,
the United Kingdom and the United States, is also substantial.
The aim of the operation is to refine the coordination of NATO
forces and strengthen the capacity to act as one army. This is
first exercise as a member state for Sweden, which participates
in the Neptune Strike with helicopters in the Baltic part of the
manoeuvres.
Among the highlights of the exercise there is also landing
simulation on a Cretan beach. It is an opportunity for the
allies to put into practice new means and technologies to
evaluate their performance on the ground of the Mediterranean
coasts. Among the objectives of the NATO exercise is also the
response to new challenges, as the chief of staff of the
Daedalus battle group, David Duran, explains on board the Juan
Carlos I: 'Surveillance of submarine cables and gas pipelines
today is an increasingly central element of patrols both in the
Baltic and the in Mediterranean'.
In the coordination between NATO allies there is also the
seed of future European defence. The commander of the Juan
Carlos I, Ricardo Gomez, recalls that from the deck of his ship
the EU high representative Josip Borrell reaffirmed Brussels'
commitment to the creation of European rapid intervention bodies
during the Spanish presidency.
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