Submarine HMS Uppland participates in Balltops 23

Baltops was first carried out in 1972 within the framework of the Partnership for Peace. One Swedish unit participating this year is the Gotland-class submarine HMS Upland. During the training, air defense, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, demining, submarine operations and landing operations will be practiced. Its purpose is to build and demonstrate interoperability within NATO and between NATO and partner nations.

For many of the Swedish submarine crew, this is their first time participating in an international exercise and they are really looking forward to it. HMS Uppland’s ship commander, who must remain anonymous for security reasons, says it is always valuable to train with these large forces and the complexity they offer.
– These exercises strengthen our interoperability and give the crew good experience in advanced submarine hunting. We all look forward to this challenge and hope to grow into one of the sharpest units in the Baltic Sea – despite our round noses, the captain smiles.

Apart from submarine crew, Marine base support staff and personnel performing various administrative functions e.g. USS Mount Whitney, and staff operations in Lisbon and Glucksburg, among others.

The exercise starts in Tallinn and ends in Kiel and runs between June 4 and 16. Apart from the countries around the Baltic Sea, some participating countries e.g. England, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Romania and USA.