{"id":30017,"date":"2022-06-04T18:06:28","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T18:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/06\/04\/major-baltic-sea-exercise-kicks-off-as-swedish-finnish-nato-bids-wait-on-turkey\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:27:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:27:43","slug":"major-baltic-sea-exercise-kicks-off-as-swedish-finnish-nato-bids-wait-on-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/2022\/06\/04\/major-baltic-sea-exercise-kicks-off-as-swedish-finnish-nato-bids-wait-on-turkey\/","title":{"rendered":"Major Baltic Sea exercise kicks off as Swedish, Finnish NATO bids wait on Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">STOCKHOLM \u2015 With the decks of the massive amphibious assault ship Kearsarge loaded with MV-22 Osprey and AH-1 Cobra rotary-wing aircraft, U.S. Marines and allied forces were getting ready to retake islands from a fictional aggressor in a war exercise showcasing allied firepower in Northern Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The NATO exercise<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2022\/06\/03\/pentagon-weighs-plans-to-expand-exercises-with-finland-sweden-amid-nato-bid\/\" target=\"_blank\"> BALTOPS<\/a> \u2013 to be held on the Baltic Sea next week \u2013 is the latest showing of unity and military strength as Sweden and Finland trade neutrality for NATO\u2019s embrace in the wake of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\">Russia\u2019s three-month-old invasion of Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Journalists were invited aboard the 844-foot Kearsarge, whose port visit marked the first time a U.S. naval vessel of its size has visited Stockholm, for a press conference with U.S. Gen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2022\/05\/31\/with-food-crisis-looming-milley-says-using-military-to-end-russian-blockade-would-be-high-risk\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mark Milley<\/a>, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as Swedish Prime Minister <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2022\/05\/16\/once-neutral-sweden-seeks-nato-membership-in-historic-shift\/\" target=\"_blank\">Magdalena Andersson<\/a>, and the Swedish military\u2019s top civilian and uniformed leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roughly 7,000 troops, 45 ships and more than 75 aircraft from 14 NATO allies, plus Sweden and Finland, are taking part in the alliance\u2019s 51st annual BALTOPS exercises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2022\/05\/16\/once-neutral-sweden-seeks-nato-membership-in-historic-shift\/\" target=\"_blank\">Andersson<\/a> said the drill was \u201ca strong signal to the world\u201d that U.S. President Joe Biden\u2019s security assurances, expressed when she and Finnish Predient Sauli Niinist\u00f6 met him at the White House in May, \u201cis actually followed with concrete action &#8230; and for this we are very very grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While membership in the mutual-defense alliance would provide new security for Sweden, Andersson said Sweden and Finland \u201cwant to be security providers and provide strong security for our part of the Baltic region.\u201d Sweden, she said, would be ready to stand behind NATO\u2019s mutual defense agreement, known as Article 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For his part, Milley praised Sweden and Finland\u2019s interoperability and intelligence sharing with NATO allies, and modern military capabilities. He also said their strategic locations would limit Russian military adventurism.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/2022\/06\/02\/how-sweden-and-finland-could-reshape-natos-northern-security\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1132893168.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">How Sweden and Finland could reshape NATO\u2019s northern security<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The accession of Finland and Sweden, historically neutral nations, is expected to transform Europe\u2019s security landscape for years to come. Their armed forces and geography would seriously complicate any further aggression Russia might want to try in the region, defense officials and national security experts say.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With Finland and Sweden\u2019s NATO membership, which is still pending, the famously shallow Baltic Sea would be surrounded almost exclusively by alliance countries, with Russia maintaining its access through naval sites in Kaliningrad in the south and the St. Petersburg region at the far eastern end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo from a Russian perspective that would be very problematic for them, militarily speaking, and it would be very advantageous to NATO,\u201d Milley said. \u201cThe Baltic Sea is a very important area strategically, but the purpose of the alliance is not offensive, its purpose is defensive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the next few days, U.S. Marines will rehearse their core task, an amphibious assault, against enemy beachheads on nearby islands. With Russia\u2019s Baltic Sea fleet based in Kaliningrad 300 miles away, Russian seizures of neighboring islands is a scenario Sweden fears and prepares for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Saturday, reporters accompanied Milley on a tour of the Kearsarge that highlighted how its forces would perform an amphibious assault. The ship or any of the rotary wing aircraft from its massive flight deck could bombard an enemy beachhead with ordnance before Marines would make an amphibious landing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Marine Cobra pilot, Capt. Ryan Mortensen, told Milley his helicopter was armed with sidewinder missiles that have a two-mile range, air-to-ground 2.75-inch unguided rockets and a 652-round Gatling gun. Mortensen, whose job is to \u201cclear out the zone\u201d before the ship\u2019s Ospreys will land assault troops, said he can communicate easily with allied troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have two radios, and we\u2019ll be speaking with other forces from our armed allies on a common frequency, talking directly to personnel who are controlling fires from the ground, clearing us hot,\u201d he said. \u201cForeign nations have joint tactical air controllers and they\u2019ll be calling in fires.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6000\" height=\"4000\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22138560782093.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-58794\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22138560782093.jpg.jpg 6000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22138560782093.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22138560782093.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22138560782093.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22138560782093.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22138560782093.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 6000px) 100vw, 6000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist, left, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stand during an enhanced honor cordon ceremony, upon his arrival at the Pentagon, Wednesday, May 18, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Interoperability takes practice, though. Transiting into the Stockholm harbor was tricky, with sometimes less than 10 feet of water under the Kearsarge\u2019s keel. Steering the ship, whose pilot house is off-center to accommodate its flight deck, meant three Swedish mariners had to visit the ship a week in advance to practice steering it into port.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s probably the most difficult transit we\u2019ve done,\u201d said Tera Geoffroy, a Navy lieutenant junior grade aboard the ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All NATO members must approve the two Nordic nations\u2019 bids to join the alliance, which were propelled by Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. Turkey has said it won\u2019t allow their accession unless certain steps are taken, raising questions about the actions NATO allies will take with Finland and Sweden as negotiations drag on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andersson told reporters Saturday she\u2019s spoken with Turkey\u2019s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as part of a dialogue over Turkey\u2019s concerns that Sweden harbors Kurdish groups Turkey considers terrorists, and she defended Sweden\u2019s laws as tough on terrorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, uptick in exercises is already in the works. U.S. President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are having U.S. European Command work with NATO to \u201cdevelop options to modestly increase\u201d previously planned drills, Milley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re looking at things that we can do on the ground, with either Marines, or Army. There are things we can do with special operations forces, things we can do with air or maritime forces,\u201d Milley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Swedish Defense Minister <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2022\/05\/18\/swedish-finnish-nato-bids-raise-the-prospect-of-a-beefier-baltic-sea-posture\/\" target=\"_blank\">Peter Hultqvist<\/a> said aboard the Kearsarge that a series of planned multinational exercises with naval and air elements will send a strong signal that Sweden is willing to act with its friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI see a future here with a lot of exercises that makes our part of Europe more secure and can fulfill what we need during this time of sensitivity, from now and until we are full members of NATO,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2022\/06\/03\/pentagon-weighs-plans-to-expand-exercises-with-finland-sweden-amid-nato-bid\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22132324166162.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Pentagon weighs plans to expand exercises with Finland, Sweden amid NATO bid<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S. military is mulling how to increase its participation in planned military exercises with Sweden and Finland as NATO member nations consider their applications.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Already, the Kearsarge is one of a number of U.S. ships that have sailed to European waters since Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Part of the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group, it deployed from Naval Station Norfolk on March 16 with elements of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, meant to serve as a multi-mission \u201csea-based, expeditionary crisis response force,\u201d the Navy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Kearsarge and other ships have been participating in international drills in the Baltic Sea region and elsewhere in Europe for more than a month, aimed at showing allied interoperability and high-end maritime warfare capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a single day in late May, the Kearsarge was in Talinn, Estonia, while the guided-missile destroyer Paul Ignatius was in Haakonsvern, Norway; the destroyer Gravely and amphibious dock landing ship Gunston Hall were in Helsinki; and the guided-missile destroyer Jason Dunham was in Durres, Albania, according to 6th Fleet, which is headquartered in Naples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While in Talinn, the Kearsarge and elements of the 22nd MEU drilled in the Estonian-led Siil exercise \u2013 \u201ca multi-day, force-on-force exercise, as well as the execution of a vertical assault raid,\u201d according to the Navy \u2013 that took them to about 15 miles from the Russian border, to the town of V\u00f5ru.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It participated in exercise Northern Viking 2022 in Keflavik, Iceland, on April 2, with the Gunston Hall and amphibious transport dock ship Arlington. With France, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Portugal and the UK, they practiced amphibious landings, search and rescue, and humanitarian assistance operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From there, the Kearsarge made two port visits to Tromso, Norway, 217 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The ship crossed the Arctic Circle on April 7, which was a challenge because of the weather, its commanding officer said in an update to families of its crew, posted to Facebook late last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOperating there was tough, The weather changed in seconds. Often it felt like the weather came up out of the ocean all around us. We spent a lot of time in low visibility, with low cloud cover, in fog and blizzard-like conditions,\u201d Capt. Tom Foster said in the note. \u201cLearning how to operate safely with our NATO parters was the mission, and we executed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NATO exercise BALTOPS \u2013 to be held on the Baltic Sea next week \u2013 is the latest showing of unity and military strength as Sweden and Finland trade neutrality for NATO\u2019s embrace in the wake of Russia\u2019s three-month-old invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":66279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[160,46,11,16,36,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3446],"class_list":["post-30017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-naval","category-newsletters","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"UGE6R2TAOZGIHIXOWUTJ5EN4LQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2022\/06\/04\/major-baltic-sea-exercise-kicks-off-as-swedish-finnish-nato-bids-wait-on-turkey\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Major Baltic Sea exercise kicks off as Swedish, Finnish NATO bids wait on Turkey - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The NATO exercise BALTOPS \u2013 to be held on the Baltic Sea next week \u2013 is the latest showing of unity and military strength as Sweden and Finland trade neutrality for NATO\u2019s embrace in the wake of Russia\u2019s three-month-old invasion of Ukraine.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Major Baltic Sea exercise kicks off as Swedish, Finnish NATO bids wait on Turkey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The NATO exercise BALTOPS \u2013 to be held on the Baltic Sea next week \u2013 is the latest showing of unity and military strength as Sweden and Finland trade neutrality for NATO\u2019s embrace in the wake of Russia\u2019s three-month-old invasion of Ukraine.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/2022\/06\/04\/major-baltic-sea-exercise-kicks-off-as-swedish-finnish-nato-bids-wait-on-turkey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-04T18:06:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T22:27:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joe Gould\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joe Gould\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" 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