The participating countries—Canada, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States—are deploying a range of assets including surface ships, submarines, helicopters, and maritime patrol aircraft. These units are conducting complex scenarios focused on locating, tracking, and engaging submarines in a dynamic, multi-threat environment.
Operations are centred in the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom-Norway (GIUK-N) Gap, a strategic maritime zone that presents significant challenges due to its cold and unpredictable conditions. NATO aims to sustain its readiness and ensure maritime security in this critical region.
“Dynamic Mongoose is an extremely important anti-submarine exercise in the High North which provides an excellent opportunity for NATO Allied nations to train together and build upon our already impressive interoperable capabilities,” said Royal Navy Captain Steven McAllister, Assistant Chief of Staff, Submarines at MARCOM. “The GIUK gap is a critical maritime crossroad that NATO Allied Maritime Command will exercise in to ensure freedom of action in the region whilst maintaining our levels of readiness and sustaining values-based security across the seas.”
Dynamic Mongoose prepares NATO forces to counter both undersea and surface threats and is key to ensuring rapid response capabilities across multiple domains. It also serves as a realistic training environment for submarine crews operating in deep waters and for air and surface assets working to detect and neutralise threats beneath the waves.
Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) is also participating in this year’s exercise, contributing significantly to the combined ASW effort. “Dynamic Mongoose 2025 is a very beneficial exercise for Standing NATO Maritime Group 1,” said SNMG1 Commander, Commodore Arjen S. Warnaar. “It brings a varied array of NATO Anti-Submarine Warfare capabilities together, and it does that in the crucial GIUK-N gap, where NATO requires an effective counter to the submarine threat.”
Allied forces are rotating between roles of hunter and hunted, creating a dynamic environment that tests the flexibility and coordination of participating crews. Maritime patrol aircraft provide additional support through reconnaissance, surveillance, and precision engagement of simulated adversaries.
Source: NATO.
