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Members of the Standing NATO Maritime Group Two docked in Alicante ahead of the Spanish Flotilla Exercise 2023, designed to enhance Spanish readiness and joint warfare interoperability in crisis response operations.
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The NATO ships included the Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) flagship from the United States, USS James E Williams, Canada’s HMCS Federicton, Italy’s ITS Carabiniere, and Spain’s ESPS Victoria.
The annual Spanish led-exercise is designed to support the nation’s crisis response operations marked by multidomain operations in a medium intensity environment with high-intensity peaks.
The hybrid threat operation is centred on a fictional geopolitical situation.
“Spain is a reliable member of the alliance, and through the international participation of units in FLOTEX-23, we contribute to deterrence and defence in the Euro-Atlantic region,” Spanish Navy Vice Admiral José Nunez, Commander of the Spanish Maritime High-Readiness Headquarters said.
“We invite other members of the alliance to participate in FLOTEX because we seek to promote interoperability and cohesion with our partners. In this edition of FLOTEX we will be training with Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 and Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 2, among other international units. The capabilities that these NATO assets bring to the exercise raise the level of training significantly, as we train with highly qualified ships and professional crews.”
According to NATO Allied Maritime Command, the exercise is designed to allow Spain to test and evaluate their naval capabilities at both the operational and tactical levels.
Commander of SNMG2, US Navy Rear Admiral Scott Sciretta, lauded Spain’s substantial contribution to NATO’s maritime efforts.
“Spain has provided incredible support to our SNMG2 and NATO task group this past year,” RADM Sciretta explained.
“Their support during vigilance surveillance activities, multiple NATO and international exercises, various at-sea air, surface and sub-surface operations as well as on-station logistical support proved invaluable. Spain’s contributions increased our task group’s capabilities and gave me, as a commander, options as we maintained the safety and security of the strategic maritime domain from the western to eastern Mediterranean.”
