Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 Participated Europe’s Largest Exercise Joint Warrior 102
On the 29th of August HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën sailed northbound through the Suez Channel, heading to the United Kingdom for the exercise Joint Warrior after almost 2 months of deployment in NATO’s anti piracy mission “Ocean Shield” in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia. During and after that mission the ship acted as flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 with embarked staff on board.
SNMG2 is a multinational integrated maritime force that forms part of the NATO Response Force and operates under the command of the Allied Maritime Command in Naples. Permanently activated and held at high readiness it is a mobile and flexible force that allows the Alliance to respond to today’s security challenges.
During the period in the Mediterranean and around the UK, SNMG2’s core consisted of the following frigates:
- HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (flagship), The Netherlands
- TCG Barbaros, Turkey
- HS Themistocles, Greece
- FGS Bremen, Germany
- ITS Aviere, Italy
From 4 to 15 October 2010 the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2), participated in what is to be assessed as Europe’s largest exercise Joint Warrior 102. For SNMG2 this exercise provides an excellent opportunity to prepare for their multipurpose role as maritime component of the NATO Response Force. After this final step of her validation programme, SNMG2 was deployed to the Mediterranean to participate in Operation Active Endeavour. Operation Active Endeavour is NATO’s Mediterranean-wide counter-terrorism operation.
During this operation the units from SNMG2 hailed merchant ships in the Mediterranean to gather information on the ship and the area she sailed through. All ships were instructed to report any suspicious activities to NATO.
During Operation Active Endeavour, SNMG2 participated in the Turkish exercise Mavi Balina ’10, including the Spanish tanker Marques de la Ensenada and the frigate Mendez Nunez. The aim of the exercise is to conduct submarine warfare and anti submarine warfare training with surface, submarine and air units. From the Turkish Navy, 3 frigates, 5 submarines, 2 corvettes, one replenishment oiler, a maritime patrol aircraft and three helicopters took part in the exercise plus air force units. It is a valuable exercise for both the Turkish Navy and SNMG2.
The four Air Defense and Command Frigates (LCF), of which the HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën is the first of the class, are the most modern frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy fleet. In addition to classical missions that frigates traditionally carry out, these frigates have been specifically designed to be used as Air Defense and Command-and-Control units. They can also be used to provide direct fire-support for troops on land. They can carry out Air Defense over a great distance, enabling them the capacity to protect a task force at sea or provide Air Defense for troops on land. The LCF is capable of directing and controlling air traffic as well as vectoring fighter jets to their targets. Equipped with high-tech sensors, infrared equipment and fast small boats (RHIB’s), LCF’s are perfectly capable to detect and engage small boats and execute missions like anti-piracy and intelligence gathering.
