Latvian Navy participates in military exercises ‘Rekin’ and ‘Northern Coasts 2022’

From Friday, September 16, to next Friday, September 23, in Gdynia, Poland, the Latvian Navy will participate in the Polish Navy military exercise “Rekin”, while from September 19 to 22, in the stage of the international military exercise “Northern Coasts 2022”, which will take place in Lithuanian waters, the public relations specialist of the Navy Līva Veita informed the “Delfi” portal.

The headquarters and support ship A-90 “Varonis” and soldiers who will support and ensure the operation of the headquarters of the Baltic Naval Squadron (BALTRON) will participate in the “Rekin” exercise. The ships of the Lithuanian and Estonian navies are also participating in the exercise, Veita pointed out.

As Waita explained, the aim of the military exercises is to conduct in-depth personnel training of the participating units in different types of threat environments to ensure their interoperability and improve cooperation procedures.

The international military exercise “Northern Coasts 2022” is organized by the German Navy from September 9 to 22 in the Baltic Sea. The headquarters and support ship A-53 “Virsaitis”, the patrol ship P-09 “Rēzekne”, ships and aircraft from France, Lithuania, Estonia and the USA, as well as the US Diver Unit, are participating in the exercise.

The purpose of the exercise “Northern Coasts 2022” is the training of maritime defense elements in a group of ships in order to increase interoperability and eliminate possible shortcomings, thus strengthening cooperation between the naval forces of the Baltic Sea countries.

BALTRON is one of the longest-lasting cooperation projects of the Baltic States, which has been implemented since August 1998. The purpose of this cooperation format is to provide a permanent rapid response capability at sea in peacetime and in crisis. BALTRON’s first commander was sea captain Ilmārs Lešinskis from the Latvian Navy, informed Veita.