Baltic, NATO exercise kicks off. Fewer ships this year. Italia does not participate
The flagship USS Mount Whitney, one of the US Navy's two Blue Ridge-class amphibious force command ships and the flagship of the Sixth Fleet stationed in the Mediterranean Sea, serves as a command platform
by Andrea Carli
Key points
BALTOPS edition 2026 kicks off. This is a major multinational naval exercise under the umbrella of the Atlantic Alliance that takes place annually in the Baltic Sea. This year's edition will end on 20 June. Traditionally led by the US Sixth Fleet, it aims to strengthen interoperability between NATO allies and partners.
Less units involved due to US commitment in the Strait of Hormuz
This year, around 20 warships, 6,000 military personnel and 15 countries including Germany, France and Poland are participating. There is no Italia. In the last edition there were more than 40 ships and around 9,000 military personnel.
The exercises include demining activities, protection of communication lines around the Swedish island of Gotland and amphibious operations.
The flagship USS Mount Whitney, one of the US Navy's two Blue Ridge-class amphibious force command ships and the flagship of the Sixth Fleet stationed in the Mediterranean Sea usually based in the port of Gaeta, serves as the command platform. The smaller number of units involved in this edition is a consequence of the simultaneous US naval engagement in the Strait of Hormuz and the Arctic.
Custody of the Baltic to Germany and Poland
The fact that Sweden and Finland, which joined the Atlantic Alliance in recent years (the former in 2024; the latter a year earlier) are participating is an element that highlights the increasing integration, at the level of defence strategies, of the countries belonging to the Nordic Baltic space (Sweden, Finland, Germany and Poland), in a body of water where Russia maintains an operational submarine fleet in Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg.
