Overview

• Neptune Strike 25-3 runs Sept. 22–26 across the North, Baltic, Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas with more than 10,000 personnel from 13 allied nations.
• The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is operating in the North Sea under NATO control, with a U.S. photo showing Ford sailing in formation with Danish and French frigates and two U.S. destroyers.
• This week’s activities include carrier air missions, amphibious landings in southern Italy, submarine patrols, surface warfare and a mass-casualty drill, plus CSAR training with Denmark and boarding drills with a French frigate.
• Allied assets include the U.S. command ship USS Mount Whitney, Turkey’s TCG Anadolu and Italy’s ITS San Giorgio, with additional destroyers, frigates, submarines and aircraft operating across the theater.
• NATO characterizes the exercise as defensive and lawful, as Poland reports at least three Russian drones shot down and a total of 19 incursions into its airspace during recent attacks on Ukraine.