The UK Royal Navy (RN) and nine other allied and partner nations have completed a ten-day-long multinational military exercise Joint Warrior.
The exercise was held between 1 and 10 October. It was conducted in and around Cape Wrath, Hebrides, the South Coast and the North Sea regions of the UK.
The exercise saw participation of over 20 naval vessels, submarines along with other supporting vessels from the UK, the US, Italy, Poland and other allied nations.
The multi-domain exercise assessed and validated the capabilities of over 3,000 deployed soldiers, sailors and aviators to counter modern adversaries, including missile strikes, swarm attacks, drones, air raids, among others.
Various surface combatants also demonstrated their anti-submarine capabilities during the exercise.
The surface ships included RN’s Type 23 Duke-class frigate HMS Kent, US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Roosevelt, Polish frigate ORP Generał Tadeusz Kościuszko and Italian ITS Andrea Doria.
The anti-submarine warfare training also allowed HMS Kent to prove its ability to work in close coordination with other nations’ surface vessels, maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters.
Additionally, the exercise demonstrated the capabilities of the RN’s smaller ships, such as the gunnery and evasive tasks of small P2000 craft, jet skis and speedboats.
HMS Exploit commanding officer lieutenant Martin Head said: “It’s been brilliant to interact with warships of different nations, putting their teams to test when reacting to multiple fast-moving contacts as we attempted to get as close as possible.”
During last four days of the exercise, the participant assets conducted a large-scale naval battle, which allowed the warships to fight in a realistic combat scenario.
This battle also witnessed British Navy’s Archer-class patrol ship HMS Exploit conducting a total of 15 attacks against frigates, minehunters and destroyers.
