The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford of the U.S Navy, joined NATO Allies in the North Sea for the 3rd iteration of Neptune Strike 2025, which ended on September 26, 2025.
NATO controlled the carrier strike group during the exercise, which began on Monday and ran till Friday.
The Neptune Strike series demonstrates NATO’s ability to integrate high-end maritime strike capabilities, deterrence and ensure freedom of navigation across vital waterways.
It also aims to secure maritime chokepoints while testing interoperability across air, land and sea, per a NATO news release.
The exercise was led by Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO), based in Oeiras, Portugal, under U.S. Vice Adm. Jeffrey Anderson.
The Neptune Strike covered the Mediterranean, Adriatic, North and Baltic Seas with over 10,000 sailors, soldiers, aviators and marines from 13 NATO Nations.
Participating countries included Estonia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Norway, Turkey, Sweden, the U.K and the U.S.
The forces displayed carrier-based air missions, amphibious landings, submarine patrols, surface warfare and mass casualty drills.
The Gerald R. Ford operated in the North Sea while multinational task groups conducted missions in the Mediterranean and the Baltic.
Among the participant vessels were carrier Gerald R Ford, Command Ship USS Mount Whitney, Turkish Navy’s Amphibious Assault Ship TCG Anadolu, Italian Navy’s amphibious transport dock ITS San Giorgio, as well as several destroyers, frigates, submarines and aircraft from participating nations.
On Tuesday, Gerald R. Ford’s embarked Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 9, conducted combat search and rescue (CSAR) training with the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) near Air Base Karup, Denmark.
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