A NATO exercise in southeastern Europe began this will see alliance aircraft practice formatting flying and bombing runs at firing ranges in Bulgaria and Romania, with Greece participating with two F-16 “Vipers”.
The exercise, Neptune Strike 25-4, will continue until Nov. 26, and takes place in the wider region affected by the Russian-Ukrainian war and with most NATO states’ relations with Russia at the nadir.
The maneuvers also involve mid-air refueling of combat aircraft, with a region of Greek airspace south of the Halkidiki peninsula of northern Greece designated as an alternative site on Nov. 25, according to military sources in Athens. The most likely scenario is that the specific region will not be used for the exercise.
A total of 10 countries will participate in the exercise, with the UK and Italy, in fact, deploying aircraft carriers in the Adriatic, while the alliance’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance force (NISRF) command will also participate with UAVs.
The specific exercise in Bulgaria and Romania – a portion will take place in Poland, as well – comes as NATO mine sweepers are taking place maneuvers in the Southern Evoikos Gulf, just off the south-central Greek mainland in the Aegean.
Unmanned units will also be deployed in the exercise, code-named “Aegean Sea 2025-I”.
