
A Chinook lifts Land Rover from RFA Lyme Bay during Ex Joint Warrior 18.
Other Royal Navy vessels involved in Joint Warrior 18 include HMS Montrose, and the Mine Countermeasures Vessels HMS Pembroke, HMS Shoreham, HMS Hurworth, HMS Brocklesby and HMS Ramsey.
US Navy in Joint Warrior 18
“U.S. participation in exercises like Joint Warrior is further proof that we are committed to acting collectively with our NATO allies, European partners, and the entire international community to disrupt threats to our mission of bringing stability to the region,” said Cmdr. Bryan S. Gallo, commanding officer of Ross. “No single nation can combat global threats alone. The more the U.S. and our NATO and European allies train together, the more effective we’ll be. Joint Warrior is an excellent chance to continue to hone those relationships and train with the best of the best.”

USS Ross (Arleigh Burke Class) and RFA Tidespring on Joint Warrior 18.
In addition to Ross, two other U.S. Navy ships are taking part in the exercise, led by Commander, Task Force 65. They are the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG 107) and the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS William McLean (T-AKE 12). Joining the ships is a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconaissance aircraft from the “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron (VP) 26.
“USS Gravely is proud to be joining our NATO and partner nations in Joint Warrior,” said Cmdr. Justin R. Hodges, commanding officer of Gravely. “We are excited for the opportunity to conduct dynamic and challenging exercises across multiple warfare areas, which are sure to improve our interoperability. My crew has been training for this exercise, and we are ready to put that training to use through the complex and realistic scenarios provided by Joint Warrior.”
Joint Warrior involves sea, ground and air assets from participating allied and NATO forces and aims to foster a spirit of teamwork between nations.
Fourteen other countries are participating in this iteration of Joint Warrior. They include: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Ross, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is on its sixth patrol in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of regional allies and partners and U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa.
Warships taking part in the exercise will include ships from NATO’s SNMG 1, composed of group flagship frigate HDMS Niels Juel, German corvette FGS Erfurt, Canadian frigate HMCS St. John’s and Turkish frigate TCG Gediz. Other ships known to be taking part are Royal Navy landing ship dock RFA Lyme Bay, French aviso FS Commandant L-Herminier, Dutch frigate HNLMS Evertsen, HDMS Esbekn Snare, and German frigate Lubeck and tanker Spessart. From the Royal Norwegian Navy Alta-class minesweeper HNOMS Otra (M351) and HNOMS Thor Heyerdahl are also taking part. Controversially, Turkish frigate TCG Gediz will also be joining the allied forces despite serious problems with the Turkish regime on human rights and other abuses. Joint Warrior 18 is also likely to be attended by one or more submarines whose movements are generally classified information.
In the spirit of transparency, confidence building and risk reduction, the Ministry of Defence welcomed a Russian Military Inspection Team, saying “We are committed to an international rules based order.”
The exercise is due to conclude in May. Follow the tweets with the hashtag .
Sources: Royal Navy; US Navy.
Image: USS Ross, HDMS Esbekn Snare and RFA Tidespring gather at HMNB Clyde, Faslane, for Joint Warrior 18 (Crown Copyright, 2018).