NATO’s Allied Maritime Command has launched Dynamic Manta 24, this year’s iteration of the annual anti-submarine exercise testing its response capabilities against underwater threats.
NATO said the advanced anti-submarine warfare exercise, scheduled from Feb. 26 to March 8 off Sicily’s eastern and southern coasts, complements the alliance’s largest exercise, Steadfast Defender, demonstrating simultaneous alliance operations across the Euro-Atlantic region.
Dynamic Manta gathers six navy submarines from Greece, France, Italy, Spain and Turkey.
Canada, Germany, Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States are deploying maritime patrol aircraft in the exercise, with Italian maritime patrol helicopters and Standing NATO Maritime Group Two surface ships joining the nine-country, two-week exercise. SNMG2 surface ships conducted combined training and operations in the Mediterranean earlier.
Further support from host nation Italy is provided through the Catania and Augusta harbors, the Catania naval helicopter base, Naval Air Station Sigonella and the Augusta Naval Base.
Besides Dynamic Manta, Marcom holds other maritime exercises annually, including the Dynamic Mongoose conducted in North Atlantic waters.