I didn't realize this.
In December, when the US relinquished command of Joint Forces Commands Brunssum, Naples and Norfolk to the Dutch, Italians and Brits respectively, the Swedes, Danes and Finns joined the Norwegians under the new Brit led command.
That casts new light, for me, on two other areas of interest.
The Joint Expeditionary Force incorporating the UK with Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, together with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as the Netherlands, has been a dual function organization. Within NATO it has been an RN led endeavour focusing on the High Arctic and the North Atlantic. But it has also established its independence of NATO and its willingness to make its own decisions on where, when and how to act.
It appears as if that JEF grouping is now formalized at Norfolk where the US can keep an eye on things.
It also sheds some light on the flurry of activity regarding these projects
Atlantic Net
Atlantic Bastion
Norwegian Type 26s
Swedish Type 31s
Danish Type 31s
British Multi Role ships from Norway
Norwegian Type 212s
And the RN advancing the private contract for Atlantic surveillance
Procurement of
Rattler USVs, 7.2 m
ARCIMS USVs, 11 m
Cetus/Excalibur XLUUV, 12 m and 19 tonne
Proteus VTUAVs
And looking towards
the Type 92 LUSV in the 45 m and 500 to 1000 tonne range.
...
What is the overlap with our national coastal needs and our commitments to our responsibilities in the NW Atlantic? Both civil and military?
....
Second area of interest
The Brit led Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, which includes the Danish Division currently leading the Multi-National Division - North under which our Latvian Brigade falls, also includes our 1st Division.
The Brits appear to be in the process of spinning up ARRC as an active Corps rather than just an HQ. This seems to parallel our own efforts to create a warfighting division out of our bits and pieces.
If all of our bits and pieces are going to be committed to a single warfighting division and if we are committed to supplying a division to ARRC does that suggest that all of our warfighting assets are committed to ARRC, and by association, JEF?
Or is our 2nd Div, the Domestic Div, ultimately going to retain some of those warfighting assets once the shake-out is complete?
WRT what is necessary for warfighting these days, that seems to be in the forefront of everybody's mind.
armyrecognition.com
www.canada.ca
open.substack.com
en.wikipedia.org
www.reuters.com
