Overview
- Playbook Merlin 25 runs November 10–14 under NATO Allied Maritime Command, with hundreds of personnel from nine nations training in the Baltic Sea.
- Participants include submarines from Germany and Sweden, a U.S. maritime patrol aircraft, and surface ships and helicopters from France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
- Rear Adm. Bret Grabbe said Sweden’s accession creates “a Baltic lake full of NATO submarines” and cited a three- or four-to-one NATO ship advantage as a strong deterrent.
- The shallow, congested Baltic is well suited to anti-submarine warfare yet vulnerable to hybrid threats, and NATO officials note Russia operates only a handful of Kilo-class submarines there.
- Sweden is modernizing under pressure, with its A26 submarine program renegotiated to 25 billion kronor and delayed to 2031 and 2035, while larger Luleå-class frigates are being competed by Saab, Babcock, Naval Group, and Navantia for deliveries beginning around 2030 and completing by 2035.