Five Nato warships have docked in Southampton’s port ahead of the largest exercise by the alliance since the Cold War.
And the message to the world is clear – Nato is strong, united, and importantly, prepared.
Standing Nato Maritime Group One (SNMG1), made up of five warships, visited the city’s port on Thursday before heading to take part in further drills as part of Exercise Steadfast Defender.
Onboard Spanish flagship ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbon, Commodore Simon Kelly of the UK Strike Force said the presence of Nato and the UK is ‘significant’.
He said: “This exercise is about ensuring that we can operate together.
“But clearly, deterrence is about communication, it's about credibility, it's about capability.
“And so, drawing all of these forces together across every domain, land, sea, air, cyber space, is incredibly important in order to send a credible message to anyone out there.”
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When asked what message this exercise – the first of its kind since the Cold War – sends, the answer was simple.
“The message, and it's not specific to Russia, to any adversary, is that Nato is strong”, Rear Admiral David Patchell told the Echo.
“Nato is united and prepared, and we are stronger than ever as an alliance.
“The intent of Nato is to prevent conflict, and by working together, we are that much more ready to prevent conflict and to match the same.”
He added: “It's not a message to any one nation - it's a message to all Nato nations that NATO is ready.”
The Spanish frigate is berthed alongside the other four ships in the Task Group - BNS Louis Marie (Belgium), FS Normandie (France), FGS Bonn (Germany), ESPS Cantabria (Spain).
Described as the biggest alliance-wide effort in collective training in decades, the aim of Steadfast Defender is to promote readiness across the strategic, operational, and tactical level.
Over 90,000 troops from 31 Nato nations and Sweden are involved in the epic operation.
Falling under one umbrella, it features a series of national and multinational exercises.
In turn, this will help relay the message that ‘we are ready’ to all those in and outside the military.
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