NATO loads torpedoes during submarine drill off Iceland

NATO’s Norðurvíkingur defence exercise in Iceland has ended after about two weeks, mbl.is reported. A journalist from the news site joined the Canadian Navy frigate Ville de Québec to observe a submarine-hunting exercise.

Three Canadian naval vessels took part in the exercise. On board Ville de Québec, which has about 240 crew members, NATO representatives from three countries spoke to mbl.is.

Torpedoes were loaded onto a helicopter, high-tech sonar buoys were dropped into the sea and a maritime patrol aircraft was flown during the exercise. Aircraft and vessels were used in NATO’s submarine-hunting operation.

Allies coordinate their operations

A sonar buoy was deployed on board the frigate in front of reporters. It sends out sound waves and detects their reflections from submarines beneath the surface. Each buoy costs hundreds of thousands of Icelandic krónur.

One of the exercise’s goals was to integrate NATO’s submarine-hunting units. Part of the operation took place in the patrol vessel’s control room, a dark room filled with computer screens where crew members monitored developments at sea.

The search also involved a German Boeing P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, known as the Poseidon, which flew past the vessel. Canadian and French military helicopters also took part and transported reporters out to sea.

A key objective was to coordinate communication between the NATO allies’ aircraft and vessels. Their exchanges with mbl.is indicated that response times were important, as were messages about their presence and ability to respond in the Arctic.

Increased Russian presence

“Russia’s military presence has increased in recent years, and China has shown great interest in the Arctic,” said Nicolas Molitor, a French commander in NATO’s standing naval forces.

He was asked about comments by Alexus G. Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, that Russian and Chinese vessels were increasingly present in Iceland’s territorial waters under the pretext of conducting research.

Molitor described Norðurvíkingur as a high-quality military exercise that helped NATO prepare to respond if peacetime ended. The exercise was also intended to show what the allies could achieve together.

“It is important to remember that NATO is a defensive alliance, but it is nevertheless important to send others a message about what we are capable of,” Molitor said.

During the exercise, helicopter pilots attached torpedoes to one of the helicopters. One of the pilots told mbl.is that he had not dropped a torpedo into the sea off Iceland. The weapons were equipped to locate submarines at sea, pursue them and destroy them.

Three Canadian Navy frigates took part in exercises around Iceland.

Challenging conditions

Submarines are difficult to locate at sea, and conditions are particularly challenging for this task in the Arctic, according to Kasper Marcels, a German officer and commander of NATO’s First Standing Naval Forces’ submarine defence unit.

“The sea here is more difficult and variable than elsewhere. It is deeper here and the temperature varies more. That affects salinity, the speed of sound and other factors. Working here is different from working in, for example, the Baltic or Mediterranean seas. The sea there is much warmer.”