The dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall departed Naval Station Norfolk, Va., Jan. 24, 2024, as part of the NATO exercise Steadfast Defender. Officials say the exercise will demonstrate the alliance’s ability to deploy forces rapidly to defend Europe. (Manvir Gill/U.S. Navy)
NAPLES, Italy — A U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship departed Virginia this week to kick off the largest NATO military exercise in decades, as allies hone their defenses against the threat of Russian aggression in Europe.
USS Gunston Hall left Norfolk on Wednesday as part of Steadfast Defender, the alliance’s largest exercise since the Cold War, the Navy said in a statement the same day.
The four-month exercise runs through May 31 and involves about 90,000 forces from 31 allies and Sweden, NATO said.
Gunston Hall, a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship that has two helicopter pads, holds up to four Landing Craft Air Cushion vessels and has the ability to embark a wide range of different forces.
The ship “is an essential element of the multinational NATO amphibious force,” Canadian navy Rear Adm. David Patchell, vice commander of U.S. 2nd Fleet, said in the Navy statement.
Joint Force Command Norfolk and 2nd Fleet worked with allies in planning the exercise. The Navy didn’t say how many service members were embarked, but it lists the ship’s typical complement as including more than 400 sailors and about 400 Marines.
The dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall departed Naval Station Norfolk, Va., Jan. 24, 2024, as part of Steadfast Defender, NATO’s largest exercise in decades. (Manvir Gill/U.S. Navy)
During Steadfast Defender, Swedish and Finnish forces will embark on Gunston Hall and conduct amphibious assault landings in Norway, the Navy said.
Patchell and other staff from 2nd Fleet will deploy to Norway as Task Force North to command NATO maritime forces, the Navy said.
Another sea component of the exercise, Joint Warrior, begins late next month.
That exercise, led by the U.K., will include sailors and Marines from U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, the Naples-based command said Thursday.
In recent years, the Navy has seen demands in the European theater grow, particularly with the war in Ukraine, Russian threats in the Baltic Sea and operations in the Mediterranean Sea related to the Israel-Hamas war.
Last month, NAVEUR-AF/6th Fleet began the process of separating after operating as a single command for nearly 19 years, a move influenced by those increasing needs, analysts say.
Steadfast Defender shows that in this “dangerous and unpredictable security environment,” NATO is ready and able to defend allied territory, said Vice Adm. Doug Perry, commander of JFC Norfolk and 2nd Fleet.
