Baltic Sea to host first training in repelling Russian attacks – Reuters
A major naval exercise that will begin on 9 September in the Baltic Sea involving some 30 ships and more than 3,000 Western troops will be the first time the repelling of a Russian attack has been practised in the region.
Source: Reuters with reference to Jan Christian Kaack, German Navy Commander-in-Chief
Quote from Kaack: "We are sending a clear message of vigilance to Russia: Not on our watch. Credible deterrence must include the ability to attack."
Details: The exercise will last 2 weeks. It will bring together forces from all NATO countries in the Baltic Sea, as well as Sweden, which will soon join the Alliance, and non-Baltic allies such as the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. They will be practising amphibious operations and land strikes from the sea.
According to Kaack, the US Navy will send the Mesa Verde, a 200-metre-long ship designed to transport and land about 800 marines.
The training will also include defending sea lanes through the Baltic Sea.
Quote from Kaack: "Finland and the Baltic states depend to almost 100% on the maritime supply routes through the Baltic Sea. Should the Suwalki Gap be blocked - and this can be done easily as there are only two roads and one railroad line - then we are left with the sea routes only, and that's where we will then have to make our way through."
The Suwalki Gap, a narrow land corridor of about 65 kilometres, is the only link between the Baltic states and Poland and NATO's core territory in Europe.
It is reported that this will be the first exercise of this scale that the German navy will lead from its new maritime headquarters in Rostock.
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