War at Sea: Formidable Shield 2023 enhances Allies’ warfighting proficiency

ByLt.Cmdr.TylerBarker

U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S Sixth Fleet

Surface Action Group (SAG) Sword, led by Spanish Navy Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate ESPS Blas De Lezo (F 103), steamed in formation from the north, readying their combat systems for the fight. To the south, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) and SAG Shield prepared to join them in neutralizing the threat. In the frigid waters off Scotland’s Cape Wrath, these Allied SAGs put their experience, weapons systems, and procedurestothetest

Conducted toward the middle portion of the overall exercise the “War at Sea” phase ofexerciseFormidableShield2023marked aninflectionpointbetweenexercise-related eventstakingplaceoffthecoastofnorthern Norway and the force’s current operations on the Hebrides Range and in the North Atlantic Ocean. The War at Sea involved a series of gunnery exercises (GUNNEX) and combined anti-submarine exercises (CASEX)againstfictitioustargets,challenging Allied SAGs in multi-domain warfighting enhancing their ability to operate as a cohesiveteam.

“As Force anti-submarine warfare commander, [French Navy FREMM frigate]FSBretagneprovidesunderseasurveillance and defense of the force against any threats underwater,” said FS Bretagne’s Operations Officer “This ability has been demonstratedinanextremelywideareaand in challenging meteorological conditions Formidable Shield improves our individual and combined capacity in this area. It also outlines the high level reached by the Allianceinthisparticularfield.”

Prior to the War at Sea, SAG Sword and SAG Shield were two separate groups separated by 1,000 nautical miles at sea but integrated under the command of the Task Group Commander embarked in Blas De Lezo Sword focused on the North and Norwegian Seas and Shield sailed in the North Atlantic, generating the conditions andeffectsnecessarytosupportmorefixed operations off the Hebrides when the two groupsultimatelycombined.

While disaggregated, maintaining communications and situational awareness between the two groups demanded flexibility from the units and an understandingofthecommongoal.Thesegroups came together for the War at Sea, testing and enhancing their proficiency in a simulated multi-domain battle scenario. Their commongoalinthisscenario:neutralizethe enemythreatandprotecttheforce

“Theanti-airwarfaresectiononHNoMS

Roald Amundsen has to make sure that our battle systems are ready and that our operators have the training they need to shoot down a potential target,” said Lieutenant Rokkones, Royal Norwegian Navy Fridtjof Nansen-classfrigateHNoMSRoaldAmundsen(F311)’santi-airwarfarecommander.

Cooperation in a shared battle space againstacommonadversaryrequiredconfidence in one another. Each participating unit and nation needed to know what the othersweredoing,thinking,andworkingto achieve This common understanding was bolsteredbyAlliedcontributionstoavariety ofwarfarecommanderrolesinthecompos- itewarfarecommander(CWC)concept.

The composite warfare doctrine exists to provide survivability and efficiency in managing complex, multi-domain operations It places command decision making and trust in the hands of capable units and personnel to fill various domain responsibilities through command by negation, where actions are pre-planned, commander’s intent is well understood, and warfare commanders have the ability to carry out ordersintheabsenceoffurtherguidance

Formidable Shield takes this CWC concept one step farther, by incorporating Allied units into the command and control reporting structure and empowering them to carry out their commander’s intent in a varietyofexerciseevolutions

“Decentralizing warfare area responsibilities during an exercise like Formidable Shielddemonstratesourabilitytotrainand fight as a cohesive, combat credible force,” said Capt. Jon Lipps, U.S. Sixth Fleet’s Commander,TaskForce64,andFormidable ShieldOfficerinTacticalControl(OTC) “As an Alliance, we can, and often do, combine our many unique capabilities into a multinational force that deters adversaries and candefendourmembersifnecessary These capabilities,whencombinedastheyarehere in Formidable Shield, underscore the true power and potential of our Allied maritime forcesacrossthejointdomains.”

Dividingprincipalwarfarearearesponsibilities in a CWC concept reinforces Allies abilitiestocounteravarietyofsubsonicand supersonicthreatsfrommultipledirections andinmultipledomains Thisdecentralized and delegated structure also leverages the advantages inherent in different national platforms, while ensuring that capabilities and objective priorities complement one another

“Formidable Shield is an exercise with themainfocusonanti-airwarfare, saidthe Air Defense Officer aboard Royal Netherlands Navy De Zeven Provinciën-class frigateHNLMSTromp(F803).“Astheanti-air warfare commander, we make sure the wholetaskgroup[TG]islookingatanidenticaltacticalpictureandisawareoftheindividual units’ contribution to TG protection intheanti-airwarfare[AAW]domain Atthe sametime,thecontributionfromallunitsto theAAWpicture,broughttothecommander of the task group by Tromp, ensures timely andjustifiedreactionsfromthegroup.”

With theircombined capacity,command and control expertise, and overwhelming firepower, SAGs Shield and Sword made short work of their exercise adversary. The lessons learned and shared experiences of their time together will no doubt pay dividends to these Allies and to the NATO Alliance against any future Formidable Shield foes, and in exercises, activities and operationstocome FormidableShieldisabiennialintegrated air and missile defense (IAMD) exercise involving a series of live-fire events against subsonic, supersonic, and ballistic targets, incorporatingmultipleAlliedships ground forces and aviation forces working across battlespaces to deliver effects. Formidable Shield demonstrates Alliance cohesion, cutting-edge capacity and capability, and NATOAllies’combinedcommitmenttothe deterrenceanddefenseofNATOterritory.