BALTOPS 2026 Exercise Begins

NATO kicked off maritime exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2026 this week with 20 ships and 6,000 personnel from 15 NATO nations – fewer than BALTOPS 2025 owing to the NATO naval assets wrapped up in the Middle East. U.S. Sixth Fleet, which leads the exercise, said in a press release that, for the first time since 1972, the exercise will be command-and-controlled from Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) Brunssum to realistically imitate NATO command structure. “BALTOPS forms for us three vital tasks: deters Russian threats in the Baltic Sea region, builds real world readiness and interoperability, strengthen alliance’s cohesion” said