Ships and submarines participating in the NATO Submarine Command-led exercise Dynamic Manta have their drills on March 4.
Spanish F-80 frigate Santa María arrived at her homeport in Rota Naval Base on March 10 after participating in the multinational exercise along with the French replenishment ship FS Var and the frigate FS Montcalm and other anti-submarine warfare (ASW) escorts from Italy and France.
DYMA 16 took place in the Ionian Sea from February 22 to March 4. It has been NATO’s main ASW exercise in the Mediterranean this year.
The submarine force was made up of eight submarines from seven different nations: USA, France, Greece, Italy, UK, Turkey and Spain. Participating units belonged to three different types: nuclear, conventional diesel-electric and air-independent propulsion system (AIP) submarines.
There were also a number of ASW aircraft, both fixed-wing MPAs and helicopters equipped with low-frequency sonars. In the course of this exercise, the Mistral spent a total of 122 hours hunting and being hunted under heavy air threat.