BALTOPS (Baltic Operations)[1] is an annual military exercise, held and sponsored by the Commander, United States Naval Forces Europe, since 1971, in the Baltic Sea and the regions surrounding it.
In 1985, Commander, Destroyer Squadron 14, was tasked with exercising freedom of navigation in the Baltic and U.S. support for Northern European NATO countries. The mission of the first BALTOPS was to 'show-the-flag' to maintain the U.S. right to sail in international waters even those in the Soviet Union's backyard. BALTOPS '85 added the objective of increasing the U.S. Navy's tactical proficiency in a strategically vital and challenging sea and air environment. To do this, Commander Destroyer Squadron 14 was assigned a Surface Action Group of six ships: USSTiconderoga(CG-47), USSIowa(BB-61), USSAylwin(FF-1081), USSHalyburton(FFG-40), USSPharris(FF-1094), and USSMerrimack(AO-179).
In late June 1990, Rear Admiral Thomas D. Paulson, Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Group Two, led USSHarry E. Yarnell(CG-17) and USSKauffman(FFG-59) to visit Poland in conjunction with BALTOPS '90. Their port call at Gdynia represented the first visit by United States Navy vessels to Poland since 1927.[3]
The 26th annual maritime exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) '98 in the Western Baltic Sea took place from June8–June19, 1998. During the exercise, the commander, Carrier Group Eight, commanded the exercise from USS Vella Gulf.
BALTOPS 2008 (36th)
Ships from various navies participating in Baltic Operations 2008 maneuver into formation (11 June 2008)
BALTOPS 2008 took place between 8 June to 18 June 2008. Its objective was to promote mutual understanding, confidence, cooperation, and interoperability among the forces and personnel of the participating nations, as well as support national unit and staff training through a series of exercises. BALTOPS 2008 included surface warships, submarines, aircraft, and ground forces from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[4][5]
Rear Admiral Daniel P. Holloway supervised BALTOPS 2008, and the guided-missile cruiser Gettysburg served as his flagship during this exercise. Gettysburg was accompanied by the guided-missile destroyer Cole and the fleet oiler Patuxent as part of the U.S. Navy's Task Group 369.4.[4][5][6] Following BALTOPS 2008, the Cole paid a port visit to Stockholm, Sweden, on 27 June 2008, and Gettysburg paid a post-exercise port visit to Kiel, Germany.[5][7]Gettysburg returned to Naval Station Mayport, Florida, on 14 July 2008, completing this two-month-long 2008 surge deployment for Carrier Strike Group Twelve.[5]
BALTOPS 2009 (37th)
On 16 June 2009, USNI bloggers took part in a DOD Bloggers Roundtable with Rear Admiral John Christenson, USN, Commander of Carrier Strike Group 12, the Enterprise carrier strike group. The topic of the call was BALTOPS 2009. According to DODLive, “BALTOPS 09 is a joint operation that allows personnel from partner nations to prepare for disaster relief efforts, humanitarian assistance, and peacekeeping efforts.” Moreover, according to DODLive, “this is the 37th anniversary of Exercise BALTOPS and includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.”
BALTOPS 2011 occurs from 3–17 June 2011 among NATO and Partnership for Peace participants. Led by the United States, BALTOPS is a USEUCOM directed, COMUSNAVEUR sponsored, and United States Sixth Fleet executed exercise. The primary planning and execution commander is Commander Carrier Strike Group Eight. The mission of BALTOPS 2011 was interoperability among forces and personnel of participating national unit and staff training objectives through a series of robust training exercises.
BALTOPS 2011 participating countries include Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.
17 countries took part in BALTOPS which started on 5 June and lasted till 20 June. Allied participation demonstrates NATO's resolve to defend the Baltic region, and will hone the ability of Allies and partners to work together.[8]
Participants include Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
BALTOPS 2020 took place from 7–16 June 2020 among NATO and Partnership for Peace participants. The exercises were concluded by the United States Sixth Fleet.[9][10]
BALTOPS 2020 participating countries include Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
A total of 14 NATO nations, including NATO partner nations Finland and Sweden, took part in the 51st BALTOPS exercise between 5 and 17 June 2022.[11] The usual mine hunting exercise was augmented this year with U.S. experimental mine hunting unmanned underwater vehicles and the collection of environmental data for target recognition algorithms, in conjunction with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center and Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific.[12][13]
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh alleged in his Substack newsletter that during the exercises, the U.S. Navy planted explosive charges on the Nord Stream pipelines, resulting in their explosion later that year.[15] The U.S. government denied this claim, calling it "utterly false and complete fiction."[16] As of February 2023, according to The Washington Post, no other media outlet has corroborated Hersh's allegations.[17]
The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea are sometimes referred to as the "Baltic nations", less often and in historical circumstances also as the "Baltic republics", the "Baltic lands", or simply the Baltics.
USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) is the third Wasp-class amphibious assault ship of the United States Navy. She is the fifth ship to bear that name, but the fourth to serve under it, as the third was renamed Hornet(CV-12) before launching.
USS Estocin (FFG-15), ninth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates, was named for Captain Michael John Estocin (1931–1967). Ordered from Bath Iron Works on 27 February 1976 as part of the FY76 program, Estocin was laid down on 2 April 1979, launched on 3 November 1979, and commissioned on 10 January 1981.
The terms Baltic Sea Region, Baltic Rim countries, and the Baltic Sea countries/states refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, mainly in Northern Europe. The term "Baltic states" refers specifically to one such grouping.
USS Spruance (DD-963) was the lead ship of the United States Navy's Spruance class of destroyers and was named after Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. Spruance was built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi, and launched by Mrs. Raymond A. Spruance. Spruance served in the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, assigned to Destroyer Squadron 24 and operating out of Naval Station Mayport, Florida. Spruance was decommissioned on 23 March 2005 and then was sunk as a target on 8 December 2006.
USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) is a Flight II Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser on active service in the United States Navy. She is named for the Battle of the Philippine Sea during World War II and is the second ship to bear the name. She has completed multiple deployments as part of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2001 to 2014.
USS Mount Whitney is one of two Blue Ridge-class amphibious command ships of the United States Navy and is the flagship and command ship of the United States Sixth Fleet. USS Mount Whitney also serves as the Afloat Command Platform (ACP) of Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO). The ship had previously served for years as the COMSTRIKFLTLANT(NATO Designation) / US Second Fleet's command ship. She is one of only a few commissioned ships to be assigned to Military Sealift Command.
Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) is one of NATO's standing naval maritime immediate reaction forces. SNMG1 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability.
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Rear Admiral George E. "Rico" Mayer is a retired United States Naval officer and Naval Aviator. At the time of his retirement, he was the first Puerto Rican Commander of the Naval Safety Center.
The Multinational Corps Northeast was formed on 18 September 1999 at Szczecin, Poland, which became its headquarters. It evolved from what was for many years the only multinational corps in NATO, Allied Land Forces Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland (LANDJUT). From 1962 LANDJUT had been responsible for the defence of the Baltic Approaches from a headquarters at Rendsburg, Germany. It comprised the 6th Panzergrenadier Division and the Danish Jutland Division.
Carrier Strike Group 10, is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. As of August 2022, CSG-10 consists of USS George H.W. Bush(CVN-77), the strike group's current flagship, with Carrier Air Wing Seven embarked on board, as well as the Ticonderoga-class cruiserLeyte Gulf, and four ships of Destroyer Squadron 26.
Carrier Strike Group 2 is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group, tracing its history originally to 1931. The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is the strike group's current flagship. As of Aug 2020, other units assigned to Carrier Strike Group 2 included the nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Three; the Ticonderoga-class cruisersUSS Philippine Sea(CG-58); USS Monterey (CG-61), USS Vella Gulf (CG-72) and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyersUSS Mitscher (DDG-57), USS Laboon, USS Mahan (DDG-72), and USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) from Destroyer Squadron 22.
Carrier Strike Group 14 was a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. The group was for some time the only U.S. carrier strike group that did not have an assigned aircraft carrier or carrier air wing. As of December 2010, it directed the cruisers USS Gettysburg(CG-64) and USS Philippine Sea(CG-58). Carrier Strike Group 14 was seemingly last based at Naval Station Mayport. Without a carrier flagship, it did not conduct the typical deployments of other carrier strike groups; instead, its two cruisers made independent voyages.
Commander, Carrier Strike Group 8, abbreviated as CCSG-8 or COMCARSTRKGRU 8, is one of five U.S. Navy carrier strike groups currently assigned to the United States Fleet Forces Command. As of 2018 the group flagship is the Nimitz-class aircraft carrierUSS Harry S. Truman(CVN-75). As of 2021, the other units of the group are the guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto(CG-56), Carrier Air Wing One, the ships of Destroyer Squadron 28 as well as the Royal Norwegian Navy's frigate HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen (F310), which joined the strike group for one deployment.
Carrier Strike Group Twelve is one of four U.S. Navy carrier strike groups currently assigned to the United States Fleet Forces Command. USS Gerald R. Ford is the aircraft carrier assigned as the strike group's flagship. Units currently assigned to Carrier Strike Group Twelve included Carrier Air Wing Eight; the Ticonderoga-class cruisersVicksburg and Normandy; and Destroyer Squadron 2.
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