Royal Navy/LPhot Dan Rosenbaum
- US and British navy ships sailed out of the Barents Sea on Friday, wrapping up several days of exercises in the Arctic, an area of increasing focus for NATO navies.
- Russia's Northern Fleet has its headquarters and major bases on the Barents Sea, and its ships conducted their own exercises in the sea as the US and British ships finished theirs.
- These photos show the latest in a broader effort by NATO navies to increase their presence in the Arctic and adapt to harsh conditions there.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
US Navy ships and a British warship wrapped up seven days of exercises in the Arctic on Friday when they departed the Barents Sea, ending the first trip by US Navy surface ships to that sea since the mid-1980s.
A surface action group of some 1,200 sailors aboard Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided-missile destroyers USS Donald Cook, USS Porter, USS Roosevelt, combat support ship USNS Supply, and British Royal Navy frigate HMS Kent entered the Barents on May 4 for Arctic training.
The exercises were supported by a US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and a US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft.
The Donald Cook, the Porter, the Kent, and the Supply sailed into the Arctic Circle on May 1 and conducted anti-submarine operations in the Norwegian Sea with a US Navy submarine and a P-8A.
Throughout the exercises, the USNS Supply supported the warships with replenishments-at-sea, which allow US and allied ships to remain on station for long periods of time.
These photos show the latest NATO naval venture into the Arctic, which is part of a broader effort by alliance navies to increase their presence in the region and adapt to the harsh conditions there.
The warships sailed into the Barents "to assert freedom of navigation and demonstrate seamless integration among allies," US Naval Forces Europe said on May 4.
Royal Navy/LPhot Dan Rosenbaum
"It was great to be operating in the Barents Sea again," Capt. Joseph Gagliano, commander of Destroyer Squadron 60 and of Combined Task Force 65, said in a release. "This is what it means to be a global Navy, sailing wherever international law allows. And it is even better that we returned with the Royal Navy."
While there, the warships worked on "combined and divisional surface warfare tactics, refined coordinated operations with US Air Forces Europe, and reinforced Arctic communications capabilities, while maintaining proficiency in critical warfare areas."
US Navy/MCS Seaman Austin G. Collins
"The Arctic is an important region, and our naval forces operate there, including the Barents Sea, to ensure the security of commerce and demonstrate freedom of navigation in that complex environment," Adm. James Foggo, commander of US Naval Forces Europe and Africa, said in the release.
The Arctic is an area of renewed attention for NATO amid tensions with Russia. The US Navy and its partners have spent more time in the region to gain experience with the challenges it poses to naval operations.
Royal Navy/LPhot Dan Rosenbaum
With its presence, the Kent was "practising further integration with our allies and proving her ability to operate at sea in sub-zero temperatures hundreds of miles inside the Arctic Circle," the British navy said.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
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- The US Navy sent surface ships deep into the Arctic, and close to Russia, for the first time in over 30 years
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