The American aircraft carrier "USS Gerald R. Ford" (CVN 78), type ship of its class and currently the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 12, spent two weeks in early September on joint operations in the Barents Sea between Spitsbergen/Svalbard and the Nordkapp together with a SAG (Surface Action Group) consisting of four NATO navies. These exercises in the "High North" have become increasingly routine over the past three years and consolidate procedures with air forces from the Scandinavian countries and support units from Western Europe. This time, the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 under the command of MARCOM (Northwood/UK) and the partners Norway, France and Germany (frigate "Hamburg" F220, Sachsen class) took part. A good two months later, the carrier is cruising off the Venezuelan coast these days, causing nervousness among Nicolas Maduro and his regime's military. Not without good reason, as it is not customary to shoot sparrows with cannons when hunting drug smugglers.