US Navy,
USS MAHAN, At Sea: USS Mahan (DDG72) participated in combined Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO) with the Russian frigate, RFS Neustrashimy (RFS 712), June 6 as part of the Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2007.
BALTOPS, taking place June 4 – 15, is the largest annual international training event organized in the Baltic Sea and includes in-port and at-sea serialized training events designed to build interoperability and better information-sharing practices with partnering nations.
The two ships took part in MIO operations — the inspection and possible diversion of suspect merchant vessels — as one of the first events of the multiphase exercise.
During the training event, small boats from Mahan with a boarding team from Neustrashimy practiced boarding procedures aboard the suspect cargo ship simulated by another player in the exercise, USNS LCPL Roy M. Wheat (T-AK 3016).
Russia also provided a KA-27/32 Helix helicopter to monitor the boarding.
The U.S.-led invitational exercise will involve 25 ships, two submarines and several air assets over the course of the 11-day event.
Participants include the United States, Denmark, Germany, Russia, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Latvia, France, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom with the combined goal of promoting mutual understanding, confidence, cooperation, and interoperability among forces and personnel of participating nations.
