Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 entered Rota Naval Base at the western coast of Spain last week, where the force will prepare for the NATO exercise Dynamic Guard.
Two Spanish naval vessels, combat support ship Cantabria and the Spanish frigate Santa Maria, will now depart the Group. During the next at-sea period the remaining SNMG2 vessels German frigate Hamburg and Turkish frigate YILDIRIM will participate in Dynamic Guard together with the Spanish frigates ESPS Canarias and ESPS Alvaro de Bazan. The former SNMG2 unit ESPS Cantabria will also take part under national flag.
The combined task group composed of five ships will train Anti-Ship Missile Defence combined with Electronic Warfare e.g. by radar and communication interfering transmitters. In addition to the maritime components, a NATO aircraft will contribute and represents the air component.
The planning for this exercise started several weeks ago and the last coordination of the upcoming events during Dynamic Guard will take place in Rota. Delegations of all participating units as well as representatives of NATO will come together in a Pre-Sail Conference and finalize the planning.
During their previous stop in Tunis, SNMG2 conducted a passing exercise with the Tunisian fast patrol boat LA Galite. Afterwards, while transiting through the western Mediterranean and the Straits of Gibraltar, the Group continued its activities under mandate of Operation Active Endeavour.
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Image: MARCOM