On August 29 patrol ship P12 "Dzūkas" and mine countermeasures ship M52 "Sūduvis" assigned to the Baltic Naval Squadron (BALTRON) of the Lithuanian Navy left Klaipėda Seaport to take part in large scale maritime exercise DANEX-NORTHERN COASTS 12. The exercise will take place from September 1 to 12 in the western part of the Baltic Sea, territorial waters of Denmark.
The exercise involves nearly 40 military vessels of various types from 14 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, France, Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Germany.
The goal of the exercises is to practice and enhance combat interoperability within a multinational naval task force and its staffs in regional crisis according to the NATO maritime operational combat doctrines and procedures, and waging combat actions against air, surface, and submarine targets, and unconventional combat measures.
To bring maximum effect the exercise is organised to be as real-life as possible, with a major focus on the exercise scenario updated regularly by reconnaissance and media messages generated for the purpose of the exercise, by establishment of the rules of combat action, and by invoking actual air, surface, and submarine targets.
Following the exercise scenario military units participating in the exercise will be divided into two groups, one of them will play an aggressor while the other one will render assistance to the attacked country.
The exercise will train maneuvering, convoy, at-sea detention, artillery fire, defence against targets of various types and unconventional combat measures, and seafloor clearance as well as other actions.
The Baltic Naval Squadron BALTRON was established jointly by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in 1998. The purpose of BALTRON is to conduct search and neutralization of naval mines, enhance security of the Baltic territorial sea and exclusive economic zone, strengthening of trilateral cooperation, as well as cooperation among Baltic States and other NATO countries. The squadron also serves as a training platform before service in NATO's naval units.
LITHNAVY CIMIC Officer Lt (N) Antanas Brencius, phone no. 00370 46 391 207, cell phone no. 00370 698 18 196
Photos from LITHNAVY archive
