von Nisida, Naples 21 February 2012: As Proud Manta 2012 evolves the submarines, surface vessels and maritime patrol aircraft involved in this anti-submarine warfare exercise find their role as hunter can quickly become that of the prey.
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| Ionian Sea, 20 Feb. 2012 — ITS Todaro during a phase of Exercise Proud Manta 2012 Source: NATO Click to enlarge |
The submarines have a lot of advantages but the waters of the Ionian Sea can sometimes be more revealing than the commanders would like especially when there is a Canadian CP140 Aurora swooping low above searching for that tell-tale outline.
In this year’s version of Proud Manta there is an additional predator in the form of fast attack aircraft: Italian Tornadoes and Eurofighters. So not even the Patrol Aircraft are safe.
“The assets put into this year’s exercise really allow us to put all the players through complex and escalating scenarios. We have enough ships planes and people engaged that we can really simulate plenty of threats and therefore we can train hard in how to work together to deal with and neutralize those threats” said U.S. Navy Captain Walter Luthiger Chief of Staff of COMSUBSOUTH and Chief Planner for Proud Manta 12. “The results were excellent last year and we are on track to be as good if not better in 2012”
Proud Manta 2012 is the largest Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) exercise conducted by NATO. Scheduled by Allied Maritime Command Naples, it is conducted by Commander Submarines, Allied Naval Forces South (COMSUBSOUTH) and Commander, Maritime Air Naples (COMMARAIRNAPLES).
Source:
Allied Command Operations
NATO
