In the morning of August 16 three mine countermeasures vessels of the Lithuanian Navy "Sūduvis" (M52), "Kuršis" (M53) and "Skalvis" (M54) departed for the Baltic Squadron's (BALTRON) exercise in the territorial waters and exclusive economic zone of Latvia.
The ships will join the training event of BALTRON naval assets that began on August 8 and will participate in the final stage of the exercise.
A range of procedures will be drilled and improved during the training event: warship manoeuvring in formations, naval artillery fire, search and neutralisation of naval mines, logistic at-sea supply, search and rescue of persons, and other tasks. Troops will train to cope with water inflow in the event of a hole in the hull, control vessel fire, render help for vessels in case of sinking or fire.
The training will drill capacity of battle ships to conduct joint operations in a corporate unit at sea, and skills of BATRON staff to plan and lead operations of the unit. The exercise is conducted in compliance with NATO procedures.
The Baltic Squadron BALTRON was established in 1998, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia man the unit by assigning naval vessels and personnel to the multinational BALTRON staff. One of the key tasks of BALTRON is detecting and destroying mines and other undetonated ammunition remaining on the Baltic seafloor since World War I and World War II. Experience gained as part of BALTRON is also beneficial for duty in NATO Response Force's Standing Mine Countermeasures Group 1 (SNMCMG1).
BALTRON is led by representatives of the three Baltic states' navies annually selected on a rotational basis. At present the unit is under the command of Lt Cdr Andrius Širvys of the Lithuanian Navy.
POC: Representative for Civilian and Military Cooperation, LNF, Lt (N) Antanas Brencius, tel. 00370 46 391 207, cell phone 00370 698 18 196.
