The first iteration of what is called exercise ‘Merlin’ is taking place in Baltic Sea waters off Sweden from 11-14 November. ‘Merlin’ will become NATO Allied Maritime Command’s (MARCOM’s) third annual ASW-focused regional exercise, alongside the long-established North Atlantic-focused ‘Dynamic Mongoose’ and Mediterranean-focused ‘Dynamic Manta’.
Driving the decision to establish the new exercise was Sweden’s accession to NATO membership, and the consequent addition of the Royal Swedish Navy’s (RSwN’s) ASW capabilities to NATO’s ASW capacity, including in the Baltic region.
“It makes sense for us to start practising ASW in the Baltic. We need to raise our knowledge in this new operating area,” Rear Admiral Bret Grabbe, a US Navy (USN) officer and submariner posted to MARCOM as Commander Submarines, NATO (COMSUBNATO), told Naval News in an interview on 7 November.
“The goal is to provide ASW training and experience and to demonstrate the readiness we maintain year-round, but to do it in a new area in our NATO capacity,” Rear Adm Grabbe continued. In the Baltic region, he added, it is very important for the alliance to be able to demonstrate its ability to operate and act collectively, to build deterrence and defence capacity.
‘Merlin 24’ involves 10 different NATO countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, the UK, and the US). MARCOM’s North Atlantic-focused Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) – commanded currently by the Royal Danish Navy – will lead activities at sea. Submarine capability will be provided by the RSwN.
According to MARCOM, ‘Merlin 24’ will feature a full spectrum of maritime assets, including submarines, surface ships, and maritime patrol aircraft, to enable NATO navies to build interoperability and hone critical skills in the high-end operational tasks of ASW, anti-surface warfare, and maritime patrol, with a focus on tracking opposing assets and enhancing wider maritime domain awareness.
With ‘Merlin’ being NATO’s first bespoke ASW activity conducted in the Baltic, and bringing together the various alliance regional members, the exercise will help NATO navies tackle the particular challenges of conducting ASW in the region’s unique waters. “Everywhere we operate, there are slight differences,” said Rear Adm Grabbe. “We’re gaining familiarity with operating in the Baltic as NATO.” ‘Dynamic Mongoose’ in the North Atlantic tackles deep- and cold-water ASW; for ‘Dynamic Manta’, the Mediterranean water is warmer, and has both deep and shallow areas; for ‘Merlin’ in the Baltic, the waters are shallow in depth and constricted in size, with the seabed topography very varied. Both the Mediterranean and Baltic are busy with dense marine traffic, too. These various factors combine to create different acoustic challenges in each region for the ASW ‘hunters and hunted’ alike.
In 2024, ‘Merlin’ will run as what is known as a ‘Playbook activity’ exercise, conducting ASW training between NATO allies, as the exercise begins the process of stepping up to MARCOM’s goal of it being established as an official ‘Dynamic’ series activity. ‘Dynamic Mongoose’ takes place in May/June each year, based around SNMG1. ‘Dynamic Manta’ takes place in February/March each year, based around SNMG2.
