The exercise brought together 31 surface ships, 1 submarine, 3 maritime patrol aircraft and other air assets as well as personnel, from Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and the United States.
Dynamic Mariner 2020 tested NATO’s Response Force Maritime Component (NRF/M) and interoperability with NATO forces, enhancing flexibility and interoperability amongst Allied nations.
The NRF/M is currently led by Spain for the usual rotation of one year, scheduled for France in 2021.
I would like to congratulate FRMARFOR, the NATO Response Force that will be led by France in 2021, for doing a tremendous job hosting and leading Dynamic Mariner in this challenging year.
“I would like to congratulate FRMARFOR, the NATO Response Force that will be led by France in 2021, for doing a tremendous job hosting and leading Dynamic Mariner in this challenging year. This was a complex and layered exercise that provided tremendous training value to participants at all levels, and was exceptionally successful even despite COVID-19 restrictions,” said Deputy Commander of NATO Maritime Command, Vice Admiral Didier Piaton.
PHOTEX Dynamic Mariner conducted near Toulon and Hyeres, 8th of October 2020.
French Rear Admiral Marc Aussedat was in the lead of the exercise. “It is essential, when preparing for real operations, to train as closely as possible to the reality. Bringing together at sea the means to operate together is essential. Dynamic Mariner is a major event for all the NATO nations which contribute to the NRF Maritime Component, especially in the current context of COVID-19, where succeeding in carrying out this exercise shows determination from the Allies to continue to prepare for future operations,” said Rear Admiral Aussedat.
NATO’s maritime strength lies in the ability of the Standing Forces and National Response Force elements to rapidly join with high readiness, high capability national forces and task groups to deliver strategic effect. Regular training between these groups is a force multiplier and provides a collectively trained and interoperable capability that NATO can confidently deploy if necessary.
The NATO Response Force (NRF) is a highly ready and technologically advanced, multinational force made up of land, air, maritime and Special Operations Forces (SOF) components that the Alliance can deploy quickly, wherever needed.
Despite the challenges posed by COVID19 pandemic, NATO’s resilience enables us to sustain our missions, operations and exercises in order to ensure safety and security of our Allied Nations. All our missions have robust procedures in place to protect our people and prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus. Because of these enhanced measures, we have not seen active transmission within any of NATO’s Standing Naval Forces. All our forces are able to continue conducting missions in a manner that takes precautionary measures, while still ensuring readiness. Our forces remain prepared, vigilant, and ready to act if called upon.