Baltic Sea: NATO exercise gets underway. Fewer ships this year. Italy is not taking part
The flagship USS Mount Whitney, one of the US Navy’s two Blue Ridge-class amphibious command ships and the flagship of the Sixth Fleet stationed in the Mediterranean Sea, serves as a command platform
by Andrea Carli
Key points
The 2026 edition of BALTOPS is set to begin. This is a major multinational naval exercise under the auspices of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, held annually in the Baltic Sea. This year’s edition will conclude on 20 June. Traditionally led by the US Sixth Fleet, it aims to strengthen interoperability between NATO allies and partners.
Fewer units involved due to US deployment in the Strait of Hormuz
This year, around 20 warships, 6,000 military personnel and 15 countries – including Germany, France and Poland – are taking part. Italia is not among them. In the last edition, there were over 40 ships and around 9,000 military personnel.
The exercises will involve mine clearance, the protection of communication lines around the Swedish island of Gotland, and amphibious operations.
The flagship USS Mount Whitney, one of two Blue Ridge-class amphibious command ships in the United States Navy and the flagship of the Sixth Fleet stationed in the Mediterranean Sea, is normally based in the port of Gaeta and serves as a command platform. The smaller number of units involved in this edition is a consequence of the United States’ concurrent naval commitment in Strait of Hormuz and the Arctic.
The Baltic Sea under German and Polish control
The fact that Sweden and Finland – which have joined the North Atlantic Alliance in recent years (the former in 2024; the latter a year earlier) – are taking part highlights the growing integration, in terms of defence strategies, of the countries belonging to the Nordic-Baltic region (Sweden, Finland, Germany and Poland), in a body of water where Russia maintains an operational submarine fleet based in Kaliningrad and St Petersburg.
