NATO kicks off largest at-sea live-fire exercise in the European theater this year

Exercise Formidable Shield 2025 will for the most take place in the maritime domain, from the North Sea in the south to the Norwegian Sea in the north. This area is considered vital to secure trans-Atlantic shipping and reinforcement of the Nordic region. 

“There is simply no substitute for the training and learning that occurs when we operate in these intensely realistic scenarios,” said Capt. Michael Dwan, Commander, Task Group 154.64 and STRIKFORNATO’s U.S. Maritime Ballistic Missile Defense Assets Advisor.

He adds: "An exercise like Formidable Shield is critical for refining our collective integrated air and missile defense capabilities, ensuring we can respond effectively to any threat from any direction and maintain a credible deterrent posture.”

An important aim of the training is to protect the airspace over Norway.

Russia has its powerful Northern Fleet based on the Kola Peninsula with both submarines and surface warships armed with supersonic long range cruise missiles like the Tsirkon. 

A month ago, the Northern Fleet received its newest Yasen-M class submarine, the Perm. This is the first in the class that is designed to carry the Tsirkon missile that Russia claims has a range of up to 1,000 km. Launched from sea, the missile can fly over land and hit a target at sea on the other side. This means it can be launched from the Barents Sea, fly over northern Norway and hit a enemy warship outside the coast of the Lofoten archipelago, important waters for NATO to protect in case of escalating tensions. 

The Norwegian Armed Forces informs that its P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, as well as F-35 fighter jets, will take part in the exercise. Last week, Norway got the last new F-35 planes to its air force. 

The 11 nations will over the next week share common tactical pictures and situational awareness, conduct NATO-level mission planning and engagement coordination, and exercise force-level pre-planned responses in various scenarios and situations, the U.S. 6th Fleet informs in a statement. 

The nations are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, U.K., and U.S. with the Australians providing a radar sensor for data collection only.

More than 16 ships and 27 aircraft, eight ground units consisting of radars, National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), Tactical Air Operations Center (TAOC), and approximately 6,900 personnel from across the Alliance.