US P-8 aircraft ‘hunts’ German, Swedish subs in Baltic Sea

MILAN — French, Dutch, and other NATO allies spent the week carrying out a game of underwater hide-and-seek in the Baltic Sea, hunting German and Swedish submarines with the help of a U.S. P-8 Poseidon aircraft and other detection systems.

The drill was part of NATO’s Playbook Merlin 2025, a Sweden-led regional military exercise focused on sharpening allied anti-submarine warfare skills.

Participating forces included a German Navy U-35 submarine and a Swedish Södermanland-class submarine, as well as a U.S. maritime patrol aircraft. Surface ships and helicopters from France and the Netherlands also took part, along with other contributions.

“The scenarios focused on honing submarine hunting skills with the German and Swedish ones playing the role as the hunted subs while surface ships, helicopters, and the U.S. P-8 aircraft rehearsed their skills in locating them utilizing sonar and other techniques,” Arlo Abrahamson, spokesperson for NATO’s Allied Maritime Command, told Defense News.

This was the second edition of the exercise, which the spokesperson said had evolved from a small playbook training engagement the previous year to a significant, major exercise for the military alliance.

Operating in the Baltic Sea is markedly different from locating submarines in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Seas, he added, primarily due to the shallower waters found in this environment.

For example, the average depth of the Baltic Sea is only 54 meters, while the mean depth of the Mediterranean Sea is 1,500 meters, according to MarineFinland.

“Both Sweden and Germany are playing a leading role and teaching other non-Baltic allies how to locate and monitor submarine activity in the Baltic Sea,” Abrahamson said.

Last month, over the span of a few days, the Russian submarine Novorossiyskwas spotted surfacing off the coast of France, and the Royal Swedish Navy reported that it had detected and escorted another Russian submarine in the Baltic Sea.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct the accompanying photo’s caption.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——法国、荷兰和其他北约盟国本周在波罗的海进行了一场水下捉迷藏游戏，借助美国 P-8 海神飞机和其他探测系统，搜寻德国和瑞典的潜艇。

此次演习是北约“梅林2025行动”的一部分，这是一项由瑞典领导的区域性军事演习，旨在提高盟军的反潜作战能力。

参演力量包括德国海军的U-35潜艇和瑞典的索德曼兰级潜艇，以及一架美国海上巡逻机。法国和荷兰的水面舰艇和直升机也参与了演习，此外还有其他方面的贡献。

北约盟军海上司令部发言人阿洛·亚伯拉罕森告诉《防务新闻》：“演习的重点是磨练反潜作战技能，德国和瑞典的潜艇扮演被猎杀的潜艇，而水面舰艇、直升机和美国的P-8飞机则演练了利用声呐和其他技术定位潜艇的技能。”

这是该演习的第二版。发言人表示，该演习从前一年的小型战术训练演习发展成为该军事联盟的一项重大演习。

他补充说，在波罗的海作业与在大西洋和地中海部署潜艇有明显的区别，主要是因为波罗的海的水比较浅。

例如，据芬兰海洋局称，波罗的海的平均深度只有 54 米，而地中海的平均深度为 1500 米。

“瑞典和德国都在发挥领导作用，并教导其他非波罗的海盟国如何定位和监控波罗的海的潜艇活动，”亚伯拉罕森说。

上个月，在短短几天内，俄罗斯潜艇“新罗西斯克”号被发现浮出法国海岸，瑞典皇家海军报告称，他们在波罗的海发现并护送了另一艘俄罗斯潜艇。

编者按：本文已更新，更正了配图的说明文字。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。