Two US Navy destroyers participate in NATO exercise Dynamic Guard

Two guided-missile destroyers USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) and USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) participated in NATO exercise Dynamic Guard from 22 to 25 February.

Dynamic Guard, hosted by Norway, is a bi-annual, multi-national NATO electronic warfare exercise series designed to provide tactical training for the NATO Response Force and NATO national units. The exercise is led by Maritime Command Headquarters (MARCOM) and supported by the NATO Joint Electronic Warfare Core Staff (JEWCS).

The exercise is conducted with a number of individual events with increasing degrees of complexity for electronic warfare and anti-ship missile defense.

Air and missile defense (AMD) is a primary warfare area for Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. During the exercise, USS Donald Cook and USS The Sullivans conducted a replenishment-at-sea with replenishment ship Berlin, further demonstrating interoperability and NATO’s ability to keep forces on-station.

“This exercise allowed us to plan, integrate and operate the full range of activities we need for electronic warfare, anti-ship missile defense and logistics in a complex environment,” said Cmdr. James Diefenderfer, commanding officer of The Sullivans.

The multi-national exercise integrated the two US Navy destroyers with Standing NATO Maritime Group (SNMG) 1, which includes German Navy replenishment ship FGS Berlin (A1411), Royal Netherlands Navy Karel Doorman-class multi-purpose frigate HNLMS Van Amstel (F831) and Royal Danish Navy Iver Huitfeldt-class frigate HDMS Peter Willemoes (F362).

The Norwegian Air Force provided surface units the ability to engage with live aircraft during realistic training scenarios.

“The conduct of large scale, multi-national exercises across all military domains ensures the readiness and interoperability of NATO Allies and partners and their ability to respond to a broad range of threats,” the officials noted.

“It’s important that NATO maintains an exemplary level of readiness in order to provide assurance to Allies and to deter and defend against threats from any direction,” Cmdr. Matthew Curnen, commanding officer of Donald Cook concluded.