BALTOPS 26 NATO Maritime Exercise in Progress — 15 Nations, ~20 Ships, Scaled Down 50% as US Naval Drawdown Takes Effect

BALTOPS 26 — NATO's annual Baltic Sea maritime exercise and the 55th iteration of the longstanding exercise — is underway through June 19, 2026, with 15 NATO member nations participating. Reports confirm the exercise is proceeding amid the backdrop of the US naval drawdown formally confirmed by EUCOM on June 3. **Scope and scale:** Approximately 20 ships, ~6,000 troops, and associated aircraft are participating — significantly scaled down from BALTOPS 25, which included 40+ ships, 25+ aircraft, and 9,000 personnel. The reduction directly reflects the diminished US naval contribution: with zero US submarines now committed to NATO (formally confirmed by SACEUR Grynkewich and EUCOM June 3), the anti-submarine warfare component of the exercise falls primarily on European navies. **Participating nations:** Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Turkey, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Baltic states and Nordic members (Finland, Sweden, Denmark) anchor the eastern coverage zone. Command: led by US Naval Forces Europe-Africa/Sixth Fleet, controlled by STRIKFORNATO from Oeiras, Portugal. **Exercise activities:** Amphibious operations, gunnery exercises, air defense, anti-submarine warfare (ASW), and mine countermeasures — precisely the warfare domains where the US hardware drawdown (zero submarines, halved armed drones) creates the most significant Alliance capability gaps per the EUCOM June 3 press release. **BALTOPS 26 as Alliance indicator:** BALTOPS 26 exemplifies the central paradox of the current NATO-US crisis: the institutional military alliance continues to exercise, plan, and operate collectively at the operational level, even as political foundations fracture at the strategic level. With 32 days to the Ankara Leaders' Summit (July 7–8) — where Trump will meet allied leaders and the formal US force withdrawal plan is expected — BALTOPS 26 demonstrates the 'NATO 3.0' reality in practice: European navies are operationally carrying a larger share, regardless of whether Ankara produces political reconciliation.