Allies demonstrate unrivaled defensive capability during Formidable Shield 2023

May 24, 2023

DVIDS:

Over the span of four action-packed days in the North Atlantic Ocean off Scotland’s west coast, from May 17 to 20, 2023, NATO Allied surface units accomplished a series of notable integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) successes while participating in exercise Formidable Shield 2023.

Formidable Shield, Europe’s largest and most complex IAMD exercise, brings together ships, aircraft, and ground-based units from throughout the NATO Alliance. Over the course of three weeks, Allied personnel work together in a variety of IAMD scenarios, as they hone and enhance their individual and collective missile defense capabilities.

During last week’s engagements, Allied aircraft tracked and cued multiple subsonic, supersonic, and ballistic missile targets from the U.K. Ministry of Defence’s Hebrides Range in Scotland while surface ships from France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States launched 11 missiles against these targets, including Aster-30, Standard Missile-2 (SM-2), and Evolved Seasparrow Missiles (ESSM) to counter a variety of threats.

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