Exercise Joint Warrior JW 17:1
Twice a year the UK hosts Exercise Joint Warrior which is designed to enable the armed forces of participating countries to practice procedures and operate as a multi-national coalition. The event incorporates a wide variety of training scenarios which differ each time but may include aerial anti-shipping strikes, small boat attacks, mine countermeasures tactics, boarding operations, large-scale amphibious assaults, air-ground strikes, aerial defence and anti-submarine warfare.
Until fairly recently most of the aircraft involved in Joint Warrior have operated from RAF Lossiemouth, Kinloss and Leuchars but following the closure of Kinloss and Leuchars passing to the Army, Prestwick Airport has been adopted as a temporary base for Royal Navy Hawk T.1s of 763 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) and Dassault Falcons of Cobham Aviation Services. Although the Cobham jets are civilian, they work closely with the MOD and play a major role in proceedings. They are equipped with onboard systems and special electronic warfare mission pods for radar and communications jamming, threat simulation and electronic surveillance. The Falcons also act as hostile airborne targets for the warships by running in at low-level to simulate a sea skimming missile, or 'launch' simulated missiles electronically which the navy can track and respond to with their defensive systems.
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Joint Warrior JW 17:1
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Joint Warrior JW 15:2
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Joint Warrior JW 15:1
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other JW pages to follow
The first of this year`s Joint Warrior military exercises took place in and around Scotland from 26 March to 6 April 2017. In October of last year, during the second of 2016's Joint Warriors, which involved thousands of army, navy and air force personnel, the first `Unmanned Warrior` ran in conjunction. This enabled the Royal Navy and other participating armed forces to test more than 50 vehicles, sensors and systems on, or deployed from, naval platforms, both on the surface and underwater as well as in the air. It was NATO`s first major training exercise using such equipment. Joint Warrior 17:1 incorporated `Information Warrior`, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based simulation designed to test the ability of warships and submarines to protect themselves against cyber attacks aimed at vessels' combat systems, communications, power and propulsion control systems.
Joint Warrior 17:1 involved naval units from Denmark, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the USA. Military air crews flew from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray and HMS Gannet at Prestwick in Ayrshire with live firing exercises conducted at a range off Cape Wrath in Sutherland. Duke-class Frigate HMS ST Albans (F83) is pictured here sailing up the east coast of Arran on Friday 24 March. Although it was quite hazy, conditions were otherwise excellent over the arrivals weekend with Goatfell and its neighbours looking superb with a dusting of snow on the tops.
Several JW subs and somewhat unusually, only two warships, namely USS Carney (DDG-64) and HNLMS Tromp of the Royal Netherlands Navy, berthed at HMNB Clyde prior to the start of proceedings on the 26th with the vast majority of vessels spending the weekend at Glasgow. The two largest ships taking part, namely the Lewis and Clark-class Dry Cargo Ship USNS Robert E.Peary (T-AKE-5) and FGS Bonn (A1413) went elsewhere, the former to the MOD facility on Loch Striven and the German Navy`s Berlin-class replenishment ship to Fairlie near Largs.
The situation of restricted operations at Faslane and nearby Coulport was due to a series of strikes by civilian staff who are in a dispute with Babcock Marine over workers' rights. Unite members are taking part in a continuous overtime and on-call ban along with a series of staggered periods of strike action which is due to last until 15 June. Unite said that the strikes would affect all areas at the bases, including the nuclear operations department.
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At the beginning of April it was announced that talks held at the conciliation service Acas over two days in an attempt to resolve the situation had broken down and the stand-off between Unite members and Babcock Marine continues.
Early arrivals docking at Glasgow on Wednesday 22 March prior to the start of proceedings were Karel Doorman-class frigate BNS Lousie-Marie (F931) of the Marine Component of the Belgian Armed Forces, Germany`s Rhön-class tanker FGS Spessart (A1442) (above) and HNoMS Roald Amundsen (F311) a Royal Norwegian Navy Nansen-class frigate. They had anchored in the Firth off Greenock overnight and made their way upriver to the city around dawn but it was still too dark for photos when the lead ship Louise-Marie reached Erskine. I managed shots of the other two though, catching Spessart at Newshot Island and Roald Amundsen as she passed the old Erskine harbour.
HNoMS Roald Amundsen (F311).
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Thursday saw me back on Newshot Island for more arrivals, however, I was shocked to make a grisly discovery - a body had washed up on the fields at the edge of the riverbank, obviously left high and dry when the last tide receded! There were no apparent injuries apart from a mangled antennae but foul play was definitely suspected.
I managed to ID the victim later, after an extensive trawl of the internet and confirmed that it was definitely Tinky Winky, one of the world famous Teletubbies! I left the police to break the bad news to next-of-kin Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po.
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Three MCM vessels arrived within a few minutes of one another. They were all minehunters: Oksøy-class HNoMS Hinnøy (M343) of the 1st Mine Clearing Squadron, Sandown-class HMS Ramsey (M110) of the Royal Navy, and Tripartite-class HNLMS Schiedam (M860) of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
I headed down to Greenock on Friday 24th, expecting to catch both the Faslane and Glasgow arrivals, but soon discovered that any participating vessels, apart from USS Carney (which was already at Faslane) and HNLMS Tromp, would be going to the city. It was a bit hazier than hoped for at Wemyss Bay although you could still make out the impressive ridges on Arran. FS Éridan (M641), a French MCM vessel, is pictured below.
Please bear in mind that all images on this website and my blog are Copyright. They are not free to use and have been embedded with a digital watermark.
Above: HNLMS Tromp (F803) snapped from Cloch Point as she made her way to HMNB Clyde on Friday 24 March. Another De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate HNLMS De Ruyter (F804) was also involved in proceedings but didn`t visit Faslane or Glasgow, either before or after the exercise.
As Tromp headed northwards, at least 20 porpoises swam past the Cloch heading in the opposite direction, fairly close to the Gourock side but, although I could see numerous fins breaking the surface spread over a wide area, none of the creatures did a leap or even showed their heads above water. Still impressive though!
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Next to appear on Friday 24th, not too far behind Tromp, was HDMS Absalon (L16) of the Danish Navy.
Sunday 26 March was `departure day` on the Clyde with almost every vessel involved setting off for its designated patrol area. The only JW ship to dock at Leith over the weekend was HMS Diamond (D34) a Type 45 or Daring-class air-defence destroyer. It was another superb, warm day across the whole country with sunny skies and very little wind. Hunt-class HMS Cattistock (M31) and HMS Ledbury (M30) (above) were the first to leave Faslane and continued down the Firth with another two MCM vessels taking up station off Greenock to cover HNLMS Tromp and `s USS Carney`s departure (below). It was also a great day for a round of golf!
Royal Navy
Meanwhile fitting out continues on HMS Forth at Scotstoun. She is the first of three new Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) being built on the Clyde by BAE Systems for the Royal Navy. She was officially named in March and HMS Medway, the second in line, is being worked on at Govan. The third will be named HMS Trent. The 90 metre-long vessels are based on a proven BAE Systems design which is already in service with the Brazilian Navy and Royal Thai Navy but BAE engineers have modified the design to ensure it meets the requirements of the Royal Navy. The patrol ships will provide accommodation for 60 personnel, including a crew of 34. An additional 50 embarked troops or passengers can also be carried. The flight deck at the aft has been upgraded to operate the latest Merlin helicopters and the vessels will be equipped with two Pacific 24 rigid inflatable boats (RIBs). With a range of 5,000 nautical miles and a maximum speed of 24 knots, HMS Forth, is expected to be delivered to the Royal Navy later this year.
Belgian Navy
BNS Godetia (A960) is a command and logistical support ship of the Belgian Naval Component. Launched on 7 December 1965 and commissioned the following year, this vessel is the successor of the HMS Godetia (K226), a British Flower-class corvette which was manned by Belgian sailors during World War II. During her long career the current vessel has been fitted with royal apartments, received weapons and electronic / navigation upgrades, plus a helicopter platform and hangar have been added. The Godetia`s main roles are fishery protection, humanitarian aid, and acting as a command ship for NATO mine countermeasure operations. She is scheduled to continue until 2020 which will make her one of the world`s oldest warships still operating.
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Royal Danish Navy
HDMS Absalon (L16) is a regular JW participant as is her sister ship Esbern Snare (L17). These vessels are primarily designed for command and support roles, often working in conjunction with the Danish Navy`s three Iver Huitfeldt-class guided-missile frigates such as HDMS Niels Juel (F363). No Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates were present on this occasion but they use the basic Absalon hull design which enabled Denmark to construct these vessels at a far lower cost than most comparable warships. The three relatively new frigates perform an air defence role with Standard Missiles and have the potential to use Tomahawk cruise missiles, a first for the Danish Navy.
HDMS Vædderen (F359) is one of four Thetis-classes Ocean Patrol Vessels, all built and commissioned in the early 1990s. She is pictured here sailing past the Clydeport freight terminal at Greenock on Friday 24 March. It was recently announced by owners Peel Ports that the facility could potentially double the number of containers it handles per annum. Their five-year plan is linked to the expansion of the company's hub at Liverpool where very large container ships will offload to smaller vessels which will redistribute cargoes to the Clyde, Manchester and Ireland. The port operator believes this investment will drastically reduce the amount of freight carried by road and be more helpful to the environment.
The Thetis-class ships' tasks are primarily maintenance of sovereignty, search and rescue, fishery inspection and support to local (mainly Greenlandic) authorities. The 3,500 ton Vædderen has been operational since 9 June 1992 and normally patrols the waters off Greenland and the Faroes. Between 2006–2007, following a refit she served as an expedition ship for a scientific world-wide research voyage. The main purpose of the expedition was to study marine biology, climate change, earthquakes and extreme weather including tsunamis. The other Thetis-class OPVs currently in service are Thetis (F357), Triton (F358) and Hvidbjørnen (F360), the latter ship being another frequent attendee on Joint Warrior. Hvidbjørnen means `Polar bear` in Danish.
" Haw! Big Man! Pit yer shirt back oan - yer scarin` the weans!"
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Estonian Navy
ENS Wambola (A433) was built in 1977 by Svendborg Værft of Denmark as HDMS Lossen (N44) for the Danish Navy. This yard was founded in 1907 and closed in 2001, after building close to 200 ships. Lossen was decommissioned in October 2004 but in 2006, transferred to Estonia after which she operated as the Kristiina, then was renamed as Wambola in 2010.
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This class of ship is specially designed to lay controlled minefields but besides their primary role, one of these vessels has periodically served as the command and support ship for the MCMFORNORTH (NATO's standing mine clearance force), and flag ship for the C in C. Wambola is 44.5 metres in length and has a top speed of 14 knots. She normally operates with a complement of 27 personnel (4 officers and 23 ratings) and Armament consists of 3x 20 mm Mk M/42 machine guns plus 2x Stinger SAM launchers were added in 1997.
French Navy
FS Éridan (M641) is the lead ship of the eleven Éridan-class Minehunters in service with the French Navy. She is one of the Tripartite-class of Mine Countermeasure Vessels (MCMV) conceived in the 1970s and built as a joint venture by France, Belgium and Holland during the following decade. The French built the mine-hunting equipment, the Belgians provided the electronics, while the Dutch constructed the propulsion train. France and the Netherlands originally bought 15, with Belgium buying 10 and the vessels are now also used by the navies of Pakistan, Indonesia, Latvia, and Bulgaria.
German Navy
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FGS Siegburg (M1098) is one of five Ensdorf-class vessels currently in service with the German Navy. All are upgraded Hameln-class minesweepers, now equipped with the TROIKA PLUS system. This utilises four remote-controlled drones known as Seehund (Seals) which simulate the acoustic and magnetic characteristics of larger ships to activate the mines. Siegburg was one of the first vessels to arrive at the KGV Dock, Glasgow, prior to the beginning of the exercise. She is pictured above about to pass under the Erskine Bridge on Wednesday 22 March.
FGS Spessart (above) didn`t leave the Glasgow city docks until the exercise was almost finished. I don`t know the reason for the delay but suspect it may have
either been due to some sort of technical issue, or perhaps she was only required to top-up participating naval vessels before they returned to base after the event had ended. The tanker`s large hoses used to replenish other vessels at sea can be clearly seen in this shot which was taken on Thursday 30 March. A pair of coasters, Wilson Alicante and Arklow Faith are tucked in behind her.
either been due to some sort of technical issue, or perhaps she was only required to top-up participating naval vessels before they returned to base after the event had ended. The tanker`s large hoses used to replenish other vessels at sea can be clearly seen in this shot which was taken on Thursday 30 March. A pair of coasters, Wilson Alicante and Arklow Faith are tucked in behind her.
Royal Netherlands Navy
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The Royal Netherlands Navy`s four De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates are highly advanced air-defence and command warships. They are HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (F802), HNLMS Tromp (F803) pictured here, HNLMS De Ruyter (F804) and HNLMS Evertsen (F805).
During international exercises, including previous Joint Warriors, performance of the sensor suite and weapons platform have been proven to be exceptional and in other navies these vessels would more likely be classified as destroyers. The De Zeven Provinciën-class vessels have been successfully deployed in counter-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa with their advanced sensors able to trace and track small slow-moving or even static surface targets. The lead ship`s name is a reference to the seven provinces which signed the treaty known as the Union of Utrecht in 1579 to unify the northern provinces of the Netherlands. Until then the country had been under the control of Habsburg Spain. |
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HNLMS Tromp (above), De Ruyter and Eversten are all named after famous Dutch admirals.
Royal Norwegian Navy
Oksøy-class mine hunter HNoMS Hinnøy (M343) of the 1st Mine Clearing Squadron heads down the Clyde on Sunday 26 March.
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Spanish Navy
The only Spanish participant this time round was SNS Reina Sofía (F-84), the fourth of six Spanish-built Santa Maria-class frigates, based on the American Oliver Hazard Perry-class design. Laid down on 12 October 1987, she was launched on 19 July 1989 and has been in service since 30 October 1990. She is named after Queen Sofía of Spain. Although these Spanish frigates are the same length as the later Oliver Hazard Perry frigates, they have a wider beam than the US Navy design, and are therefore able to carry more top weight. Fin stabilisers are fitted.
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SNS Reina Sofía is pictured here passing East India harbour at Greenock on her way out to sea on Sunday 26 March.
United States Navy
USS Carney (DDG-64) is the 14th Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyer to be built. The first was commissioned in 1991. Contracts for these warships were split between the Northrop Grumman Ship Systems (formerly Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding) (28 ships), based in Pascagoula, Mississippi and the General Dynamics subsidiary, Bath Iron Works, based in Maine (34 ships). The first 21 ships (DDG51-DDG71) are categorised as Flight I and the next seven (DDG72 - DDG78) as Flight II.
USS Carney is the first to be named after Admiral Robert Carney who served as Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower administration. From 15 October 1942 until July 1943 Carney had commanded the cruiser USS Denver in the Pacific Theater during which time he was twice decorated for engagements in the Solomon Islands campaign.
...and Finally, a few more from Prestwick
Discovery Air Defence and Inzpire have recently announced that they will make a joint bid for the Ministry of Defence`s `Air Support to Defence Operational Training` requirement. It`s intended that The ASDOT contract will provide the UK armed forces with live-fly tactical training well into the 2030s and include aggressor-type training for all three armed services. The programme will replace the current Dassault Falcon 20s of Cobham Aviation and the Fleet Air Arm-operated Hawk T1s flown by 736 NAS from RNAS Culdrose which are due for retirement in 2020.
Inzpire currently provides expertise to the RAF in the management of large-scale live training exercises whereas Discovery Air Defence will offer a fleet of Douglas A-4N/TA-4J Skyhawks and ex-Luftwaffe Alpha Jets. At the 2016 Farnborough International Airshow, QinetiQ and Thales announced an agreement with Textron AirLand proposing the latter company`s Scorpion jet for the ASDOT requirement.
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Cobham Aviation`s Diamond DA42 MPP Guardian G-FFMV: After the installation of special equipment by Diamond Airborne Sensing, this aircraft is primarily used for the inspection and calibration of airfield navigation systems. The very low fuel burn of around 30 litres of Jet-A1 per hour results in very low levels of pollution. The aircraft was snapped at Prestwick on Monday 27 March.
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The Canadian Armed Forces often feature in Joint Warrior, sending not only personnel, but ships and aircraft, usually of the Maritime Patrol variety. However, there is no Canadian involvement this time round. Lockheed Martin CC-130J Super Hercules, serial number 130601, was at Prestwick on Monday 27 March. I presume its presence had no connection with the exercise.
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Hawk T.1A XX337 sets off from Prestwick on yet another mission.
Above: Lockheed EC-130H 73-1588 / DM (f/v), call-sign `Axis 41`landed at Glasgow International at 22:10 hrs on Thursday 16 March and remained until the morning of the 18th. The only military aircraft to appear at Glasgow international while Joint Warrior 17:1 was in progress was a pair of transports which parked adjacent to one another on Taxiway `Y` for a time on the afternoon of 31 March. I`m not sure whether any of these aircraft`s visits had any connection with the exercise but have included them anyway.
First to arrive was Lockheed Martin KC-130J tanker KC-130J 169018 / QH (f/v) of the US Marine Corps (USMC) which touched down at 16:00 hrs using the call-sign `Ranger 71`. C-160D Transall 50+82 had joined it within the hour but the German Air Force plane took off again at 18:10 before I had the chance to photograph it. The Herc stopped until the morning of 2 April.
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Joint Warrior JW 17:1
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Joint Warrior JW 15:2
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Joint Warrior JW 15:1
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Other JW pages to follow
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