NATO sends warships to patrol Arctic waters

Yahoo

01-08-2025

MILAN — NATO has deployed a maritime task group made up of Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese, and German vessels to boost its maritime presence in the Arctic and High North.
The alliance's maritime forces assigned to the Standing Maritime Group 1, or SNMG1, have been operating in the strategic waters since this week.
These include the flagship vessel De Ruyter from the Netherlands, the Thor Heyerdahl from Norway, the Bartolomeu Dias from Portugal, and the Rhön from Germany. Additional maritime patrol aircraft have been complementing the ships' activities.
The NATO task group will conduct anti-submarine activities designed to protect critical sea lines of communication and ensure freedom of navigation in the region as well as routine patrols.
'[They will also carry out] integrated operations involving the coordination of various surface ships and air assets to increase the alliance's understanding of the maritime environment, enhance information sharing and rehearse navigational maneuvers,' Commander Arlo Abrahamson, spokesperson for NATO's Allied Maritime Command, told Defense News.
He added that it will provide NATO maritime forces with 'valuable' opportunities to enhance their knowledge of the polar regions and their ability to sustain operations in these waters.
The deployment comes a few days after Russia launched a major naval exercise in the Pacific, Arctic, Baltic and Caspian seas, according to the Russian defense ministry. The 'July Storm' drill, which took place from July 23-27, was reported to have involved 150 warships and 15,000 military personnel.
Over the last few years, experts have signaled an Arctic rapprochement between China and Russia displayed by organized joint military drills near the Arctic region as well as naval and air patrols over the East China Sea and Sea of Japan.
A recent report published by the Center for European Policy Analysis warned that both countries also share a willingness to disrupt critical undersea infrastructure, which could affect the interests of NATO states.
'The disruption of critical undersea infrastructure (CUI) and seabed warfare activities represents another form of nefarious relations that Russia and China might further in the Arctic – both have a clear interest in disrupting CUI as part of a continued subthreshold operations against Western interests,' the report said.
Seven NATO countries have territories located within the Arctic circle: Denmark, Canada, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.
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