For the first time since operations began earlier this year, a US Navy warship is patrolling with NATO’s new Baltic Sea mission to protect critical undersea infrastructure from sabotage.
USS Bulkeley, a guided-missile destroyer, joined the Baltic Sentry mission this week, a defense official told Business Insider on Wednesday.
The defensive mission is largely comprised of European assets, including ships and aircraft. American P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft have intermittently assisted in operations for the past 10 months; however, the new inclusion of USS Bulkeley in the mission marks the first time a US warship has been involved, the official said.
The tasking was driven by availability, they added.
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers like the Bulkeley are advanced warships capable of a range of missions. They are armed with around 100 missile tubes armed with weapons for air defense and strikes, including powerful Tomahawk cruise missiles.
NATO announced the Baltic Sentry mission in January. The alliance effort is aimed at protecting critical undersea infrastructure following a string of sabotage incidents in the Baltic Sea. Some of the malign activity has been linked to Russia.
As part of Baltic Sentry, NATO forces have been patrolling the region to deter harmful activity, which some Western officials have attributed to an ongoing hybrid warfare-style campaign being waged by Moscow.
Tensions between the Kremlin and European leaders have risen significantly in recent weeks following a string of Russian drone and aircraft incursions into the airspace of several NATO allies, including Poland, Romania, and Estonia.
Unspecified drones have also been spotted around airports and military bases in Denmark. In response to the incursions, NATO said over the weekend that it would commit additional assets to Baltic Sentry, including multiple intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms, and at least one air defense frigate, the German vessel FGS Hamburg.
Cdr. Arlo Abrahamson, a spokesperson for NATO’s Allied Maritime Command, told Business Insider that the deployments highlight “the flexibility and agility of this enhanced vigilance activity, and that there is more to it than just the protection of critical undersea infrastructure.”
He said that “the presence of FGS Hamburg operating near Denmark for Baltic Sentry enhanced vigilance activities sends a message of assurance and cohesion within the alliance.”
Earlier this month, after NATO forces shot down a number of Russian drones that violated Polish airspace during an attack against Ukraine, the alliance announced another operation — Eastern Sentry — aimed at protecting its eastern edge.
Several countries, including Denmark, France, Germany, and the UK, have since deployed fighter jets to the Eastern Sentry mission to help patrol NATO airspace.
NATO officials told Business Insider that while the two missions focus on different areas — Eastern Sentry on the alliance’s east and Baltic Sentry on maritime activity around the Baltic Sea — they are closely coordinated and improve the alliance’s overall defense.
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