The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group was placed under NATO command on Friday as part of the Neptune Strike 2022 exercise series, the Pentagon's deputy press secretary announced. The exercise officially began Friday at Strike Force NATO headquarters in Oeiras, Portugal, according to a press release from the U.S. 6th Fleet. In addition to the USA, Albania, Canada, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom will also take part.
It was not clear from the press release what the carrier battle group will do in detail as part of the exercise, apart from conducting "vigilance activities". Neptune Strike 2022.2 is the fourth Project Neptune exercise in 2022, with all but one of the exercises taking place after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February. NATO also conducted two Project Neptune exercises in 2021. This is the third time NATO has taken command of a US aircraft carrier battle group in 2022, and the third time since the end of the Cold War. Previously, NATO had command of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group during two other versions of Project Neptune, as USNI News previously reported.
Neptune Strike 2022.2 begins at the same time as the nuclear exercise Steadfast Noon, another NATO exercise. According to a NATO press release, aircraft from 14 different countries are involved in Steadfast Noon. The exercise will take place over Belgium, the United Kingdom and the North Sea. The USA will deploy B-52 bombers, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Thursday.
Russia is also expected to conduct its own nuclear exercise, known as Grom, this month.
Source: usni / Heather Mongilio
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