Open spirit
"Open Spirit" is the name of a NATO maneuver series in the Baltic Sea .
Structure and participation
The Open Spirit maneuver emerged from the maneuvers of the joint minesweeper association of the Baltic States, the Baltic Naval Squadron (BALTRON) to which Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania belong. He has been performing this maneuver every year. Open Spirit is the longest military exercise that has taken place in the Baltic Sea since the end of the Cold War.
In 2013 the standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1) participated in OPEN SPIRIT. Until 2013 the maneuver was under Latvian leadership.
The aim of the exercise was always to track down and recover old sea mines and sea bombs from the two world wars in the Baltic Sea. These partly endangered international shipping routes and fishing areas.
Open Spirit 2014
200 marines began the maneuver in Kiel in April 2014. On April 22nd, 2014, the mine clearing association cast off from the Tirpitzmole in Kiel's naval port:
| Identifier | Surname | country | Team strength | task | home port |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M313 | Admiral Cowan | Estonia | unknown | Mine search | unknown |
| M 857 | Makkum | Netherlands | unknown | Mine search | unknown |
| M916 | Bellis | Belgium | unknown | Mine search | unknown |
| M351 | Otra | Norway | unknown | Mine search, fastest boat in the association | unknown |
| A535 | Valkyria | Norway | unknown | Command boat of the association | unknown |
| A 511 | Elbe | Germany | unknown | Command ship from May 2014 | Warnemünde |
The Norwegian officer Eirik Otterbu was in command of the maneuver until May 2014. Then Germany took over and the Elbe tender joined the association as a lead ship with 45 soldiers. The association's first port was Swinoujscie in Poland. The ships patrolled the Baltic Sea and the coast of NATO member countries Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The minesweeping exercise started by the association off the coast of Latvia in mid-May .
The long-planned maneuver became particularly important in 2014 as the relationship between NATO and Russia was tense due to the military conflict in Ukraine. However, NATO did not see the danger of a confrontation by the association. According to NATO information, the activities of the Russian Navy had not changed. The presence of minesweepers in the Baltic Sea is "purely defensive" and not a threat against Russia. Rather, it is a matter of reassuring one's own allies in the Baltic States and Poland.
Individual evidence
- ^ Allied Maritime Command Exercises ( Memento of April 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.ndr.de/regional/schleswig-holstein/minenraeum103.html ( Memento from April 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive )