London. December 5th. INTERFAX - The POLARIS 21 exercises of six NATO member countries have ended in the Mediterranean Sea, becoming one of the most ambitious naval maneuvers in history, The Guardian reported on Sunday.
The military of France, Great Britain, the USA, Italy, Spain and Greece participated in the exercises - 6 thousand people and 24 ships. At the same time, Paris involved almost half of the French fleet, including the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, as well as land and air units.
The participants of the maneuvers were divided into two camps and participated in an intense six-day simulation of the battles, which were observed from aboard a French aircraft carrier. In particular, the military operated for 24 hours in the conditions of the "fog of war" - while simulating the absence of satellite communications. Also, two squadrons of fighters intercepted each other in conditions close to combat, and practiced a mission to rescue an ejected pilot who found himself in enemy territory.
Also, all crew members were asked to turn off their mobile phones to avoid surveillance, The Guardian notes.
At the end of the maneuvers, Admiral Pierre Vandier told the sailors and journalists aboard Charles de Gaulle that over the past 20 years, during the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Libya, it was possible to observe how the fleet was involved in land conflicts.
"Today (when considering the situation on the seas) there are or will be problems from submarines, cyber attacks, attacks from space or directly naval warfare. Our task is to understand these factors at the operational level," he said.
He noted that the main threats are the rapid expansion of the Chinese Navy in the Pacific Ocean, as well as another country in the Mediterranean Sea, which the admiral did not name.
"Today we see the growth of fleets two or three times stronger than it was. We have witnessed the tripling of the size of the Chinese fleet in 10 years, so now it surpasses the US fleet," Vandier said.
According to him, rapid rearmament in the world creates disorder, so there is no time to lose and one cannot "be taken by surprise."
The Guardian, in turn, notes that despite the tensions between London and Paris that arose due to the conclusion of the trilateral security partnership AUKUS with the participation of the United States, Britain and Australia, British-French defense ties remain strong. So, the only British Navy officer who was on board Charles de Gaulle during POLARIS 21, Captain 3rd Rank Duncan Abbott said that he did not observe any tension after the conclusion of AUKUS.
