During the opening ceremony of Exercise Sea Breeze at Glasgow’s King George V Dock, UK Defence Journal spoke with Rear Admiral Thomas Wall, Commander of Submarines NATO, about the significant role of NATO training in enhancing the operational capabilities of Ukraine’s navy.
We discussed the eagerness of the Ukrainian crews to commence demining the Black Sea and how their training with NATO has been instrumental.
Wall highlighted the excitement among the Ukrainian sailors as they approached this significant two-week exercise. “This is kind of a culmination of the training. They’ve been training now, almost two years. So this is the kind of final test or the final exam of the mission,” he explained.
The crews are not just eager to demonstrate their capabilities but also to work alongside other nations with a shared mission. Wall mentioned, “The commanding officer looked out behind him. We’re so happy to be working with all these other nations that have the same mission.”
NATO’s Strength in Unity
One of the key strengths of NATO, according to Wall, is the ability to bring together different nations to operate cohesively. “What’s even better, when you look across all the nations, we had several platforms and crews that can do it. But they can operate together. So that’s what makes us stronger,” he noted.
This approach enhances their capability to tackle complex missions, including demining operations in diverse maritime environments.
Wall continued, “The key there for us in NATO is, it’s great that we have this. What’s even better, when you look across all the nations, we had several platforms and crews that can do it. But they can operate together. So that’s what makes us stronger, is the fact that we can take nations, get them in the same area, they can do the same mission as a group from different countries and achieve more than a single nation. That’s what I love seeing from a NATO perspective. It makes us stronger, it makes us more capable.”
Preparing for the Black Sea
Wall explained that the skills developed during these exercises are directly transferable to operations in the Black Sea. However, he acknowledged that local knowledge would be crucial. “What they will need to do is when they get to the Black Sea, they will learn localised information. Every area is different, especially in the maritime environment,”he said. Wall pointed out that the Black Sea presents unique challenges.
“The area that they’re trying to de-mine is a large river also, which it’s not like a river, it’s more like a large portion of the sea. So there’s large areas, but there’s also currents that play into it,” he explained.
