Finnish Navy led coalition fire support on the Finnish coast
Neptune Strike demonstrated NATO's strike capability in the Baltic Sea region

This week, Finnish Navy has carried out NATO's Neptune Strike enhanced Vigilance Activity in the northern Baltic Sea with the USS Bainbridge, the corvette HMS Helsingborg, and the FGS Hamburg, which is part of NATO's Standing Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1).

On Wednesday, September 24, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters led by the USS Gerald Ford, an aircraft carrier operating in the North Sea, carried out their first bombing missions from the North Sea to the southern coast of Finland, led by Finnish Navy JTAC -teams.

In addition, MH60R Seahawk helicopters from the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, operating in the Baltic Sea, fired Hellfire missiles and machine guns.

Both fire support missions took place in the Hästö-Busö exercise area in Raseborg.

- Both successful operations demonstrated effective cooperation and the strike capability of the alliance in Finland and our neighboring areas. This was a very concrete demonstration of how NATO's collective defense adds depth to our defense and increases our modern strike capability, says Commodore Marko Laaksonen, Chief of Operations of the Finnish Navy.

Neptune Strike is a large-scale maritime readiness activity series (eVA - enhanced Vigilance Activity) led by NATO's Naval Striking and Support Forces (STRIKFORNATO), the third part of this year’s series (NEST 25-3) was conducted this week in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.