HMS Defender sails for Baltops Nato exercise joined by a fleet of Royal Navy boats who can 'swarm attack' warships

Portsmouth-based destroyer HMS Defender will be leading the maritime firepower from the British contingent of craft joining the Baltops 22 wargame.

This year’s military display comes amid the turmoil in Ukraine, following the country’s invasion by Russia.

Some 16 nations are due to take place in the 10-day exercise, with more than 45 ships, 75 aircraft and 7,000 military personnel taking part.

Britain’s mighty £1bn air defence destroyer Defender will be joined by six of the navy’s smallest crafts - HMS Archer, Charger, Explorer, Exploit, Ranger and Smiter.

The group of P2000 boats are part of the navy’s coastal forces squadron and will be acting as hostile vessels during the operation.

The boats subjected Defender plus Lithuanian, Latvian and Norwegian ships – all Joint Expeditionary Force partner nations – to concerted ‘attacks’.

Similar swarm attacks will be the Coastal Forces vessels’ ‘party trick’ when Baltops moves into dynamic phase in the coming days.

‘This deployment marks the end of months of planning, allowing us to deploy and engage with multiple navies,’ said Lieutenant Martin Head, in command of HMS Exploit.

‘There have been some fantastic and rewarding days – such as training with our Joint Expeditionary Force partners, allowing us to improve our capability together – and fantastically warm welcomes in some truly fantastic cities: Antwerp, The Hague, Hamburg, Copenhagen.’

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Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Baltops 2022 is designed to test the ability of Nato and its partners to safeguard and maintain freedom and security of sea lanes.

The exercise forms the crux of a two-month deployment by the half-dozen P2000s – the first time the squadron has been able to visit the continent since the pandemic.

In the past few years, the RN’s small boat flotilla has been transformed its old name of 1st Patrol Boat Squadron replaced by the historic Coastal Forces Squadron, its role shifting from giving undergraduates a taste of life with University Royal Navy Units to front-line operational roles.