NATO's Baltic sentry: Strengthening defenses amid rising tensions
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced that a Baltic Sentry will be established to enhance security in the Baltic Sea. This initiative involves frigates, patrol aircraft, and various other types of weaponry. Let's explore the equipment available to NATO's Baltic states.
The establishment of the Baltic Sentry aims to address the increasing security challenges in the Baltic Sea region, which include a series of concerning incidents such as damage to underwater power and telecommunication cables. Suspicions often fall on Russia, whose "research vessels" regularly appear in the Baltic and North Seas. In recent months, there has also been an increase in Russian submarines in the Baltic. The Sentry, as mentioned in NATO's communiqué, will be responsible not only for supervision but also for deterrence activities.
NATO to establish the Baltic Guard
"The Baltic Sentry will engage a range of resources, including frigates and maritime patrol aircraft. The Secretary General also announced the deployment of new technologies in the region, including a small fleet of marine drones, and emphasized that NATO will work with member states to integrate national surveillance resources—all to improve the capability to protect critical underwater infrastructure and respond when needed," the NATO communiqué stated.
Naval forces of the Baltic states: What do they have?
The German Navy, although theoretically the strongest in the region, has six Type 212A submarines, five corvettes, and as many as eleven frigates. The largest and most modern units, such as the four Baden-Württemberg-class frigates, are designed for expeditionary operations and asymmetrical conflicts. However, Germany must split its forces between two bodies of water—the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.
The Swedish navy, on the other hand, has seven small corvettes, five of which are newer and larger, of the Visby-class, with a displacement of 730 US tons. Stockholm's submarine fleet consists of one older A17-class unit and three A19 (Gotland) class submarines, although plans to replace them with modern A26 Blekinge-class submarines are significantly delayed.
The Finnish navy also has eight small missile boats with a displacement of 280 US tons, indicating their limited potential.
Challenges for NATO countries in the Baltic
In practice, NATO countries, except for Germany and to a limited extent Poland, do not have the capability to conduct continuous and weather-independent surveillance in the Baltic Sea. They also lack effective means of detecting and combating Russian submarines, as land-based aircraft and helicopters are insufficient when compared to larger, more versatile maritime vessels. Mark Rutte did not specify whether and how large NATO reinforcements from other regions would appear in the Baltic Sea as part of the Baltic Sentry initiative.
