Allied navies join forces in the Baltic Sea during exercise Freezing Winds to strengthen resilience against evolving maritime threats.
Synopsis
As security challenges in the Baltic region continue to evolve, NATO and Allies are intensifying efforts to protect vital sea routes and critical infrastructure. Maintaining freedom of navigation and safeguarding key maritime areas remain essential for the security of Allied nations.
Exercise Freezing Winds 2025, hosted by Finland, brought together ships from Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1) and other Allied units to train side by side in the Baltic Sea’s harsh winter conditions. Over several days, naval forces, divers, and mine counter-measure teams practised joint operations to ensure readiness against diverse threats — from detecting and neutralising underwater threats to responding to disruptions affecting vital sea lines of communication. The exercise took place from 24 November to 4 December 2025.
This exercise complements NATO’s Baltic Sentry enhanced vigilance activity, launched in January 2025 to strengthen surveillance and monitoring across the region. Since its inception, Baltic Sentry has helped deter hostile activity, and there has been no maligned damage to critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. This proactive effort underscores NATO’s unwavering commitment to security and resilience in an increasingly complex environment.
Footage includes NATO warships at the port of Turku, Finland, with Allied sailors conducting naval operations aboard the French minehunter FS Sagittaire and the Latvian LVNS Virsaitis, the flagship of SNMCMG1. It also features joint naval operations on the German minehunter FGS Dillingen, where Portuguese divers worked alongside German sailors. The package includes interviews with the commander of SNMCMG1, as well as commanding officers from the Danish frigate HDMS Niels Juel, French minehunter FS Sagittaire, German minehunter FGS Dillingen, and an officer from the Portuguese Navy’s mine clearance team.
Transcript
---SHOTLIST—
(00:00) WIDE SHOT – NATO WARSHIPS FROM LATVIA, GERMANY, POLAND, AND FRANCE DOCKED AT THE PORT OF TURKU
(00:03) MEDIUM SHOT – FINNISH CONSCRIPTS AT THE PORT OF TURKU
(00:07) MEDIUM SHOT – DANISH FRIGATE HDMS NIELS JUEL DOCKED AT THE PORT OF TURKU
(00:12) VARIOUS SHOTS – NATO WARSHIPS AT THE PORT OF TURKU
(00:20) MEDIUM SHOT – DANISH SEAHAWK HELICOPTER ON BOARD DANISH FRIGATE HDMS NIELS JUEL
(00:24) WIDE SHOT – LATVIAN MINEHUNTER LVNS RUSINS DOCKED AT THE PORT OF TURKU
(00:27) VARIOUS SHOTS – LITHUANIAN MINE COUNTER-MEASURES VESSEL LNS SKALVIS DEPARTING THE PORT OF TURKU
(00:35) VARIOUS SHOTS – LATVIAN MINEHUNTER RUSINS DEPARTING THE PORT OF TURKU
(00:45) VARIOUS SHOTS – POLISH MINE COUNTER-MEASURES VESSEL ORP ALBATROS DEPARTING THE PORT OF TURKU
(00:54) VARIOUS SHOTS – GERMAN MINEHUNTER FGS DILLINGEN DEPARTING THE PORT OF TURKU
(00:59) VARIOUS SHOTS – LATVIAN LVNS VIRSAITIS DEPARTING THE PORT OF TURKU
(01:21) WIDE SHOT – DANISH FRIGATE HDMS NIELS JUEL DOCKED AT THE PORT OF TURKU
(01:25) MEDIUM SHOT – LATVIAN SAILORS WORKING ON THE DECK OF LVNS VIRSAITIS
(01:33) VARIOUS SHOTS – LATVIAN LVNS VIRSAITIS SAILING AWAY FROM TURKU
(01:53) WIDE SHOT – LATVIAN LVNS RUSINS SAILING IN THE BALTIC SEA AT SUNSET
(01:58) WIDE SHOT – LATVIAN LVNS VIRSAITIS SAILING IN THE BALTIC SEA AT SUNSET
(02:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – LATVIAN SAILORS RAISING THE ANCHOR ON LVNS VIRSAITIS
(02:22) WIDE SHOT – LATVIAN NAVAL FLAG ON LVNS VIRSAITIS
(02:27) WIDE SHOT – LATVIAN LVNS VIRSAITIS SAILING IN THE BALTIC SEA
(02:33) VARIOUS SHOTS – LATVIAN SAILORS ON A RHIB BOAT IN THE BALTIC SEA
(02:43) VARIOUS SHOTS – GERMAN MINEHUNTER FGS DILLINGEN SAILING IN THE BALTIC SEA
(02:54) VARIOUS SHOTS – GERMAN SAILORS PREPARING AN UNDERWATER DRONE FOR A COUNTER-MINE MISSION
(03:13) VARIOUS SHOTS – GERMAN SAILORS DEPLOYING AN UNDERWATER DRONE
(03:25) VARIOUS SHOTS – GERMAN SAILORS OPERATING AN UNDERWATER DRONE IN THE BALTIC SEA
(03:50) VARIOUS SHOTS – GERMAN SAILORS RETRIEVING THE UNDERWATER DRONE
(04:21) VARIOUS SHOTS – PORTUGUESE DIVER CONDUCTING OPERATIONS WITH GERMAN SAILORS FROM FGS DILLINGEN
(04:38) VARIOUS SHOTS – GERMAN SAILORS INSPECTING AND MAINTAINING AN UNDERWATER DRONE
(04:55) VARIOUS SHOTS – FRENCH SAILORS CONDUCTING NAVAL OPERATIONS ON FS SAGITTAIRE
(05:05) VARIOUS SHOTS – FRENCH SAILORS DEPLOYING A RHIB BOAT FROM FS SAGITTAIRE
(05:23) MEDIUM SHOT – FRENCH DIVER PREPARING FOR DIVING OPERATIONS ON FS SAGITTAIRE
(05:30) VARIOUS SHOTS – FRENCH SAILORS ON A RHIB BOAT
(05:40) MEDIUM SHOT – FRENCH DIVERS PREPARING FOR DIVING OPERATIONS ON FS SAGITTAIRE
(05:47) VARIOUS SHOTS – FRENCH DIVERS BOARDING A RHIB BOAT TO CONDUCT DIVING OPERATIONS IN THE BALTIC SEA
(06:13) VARIOUS SHOTS – FRENCH SAILORS CONDUCTING NAVAL OPERATIONS ON FS SAGITTAIRE
(07:08) WIDE SHOT – FRENCH AND FINNISH FLAGS ON FS SAGITTAIRE
(07:13) VARIOUS SHOTS – LATVIAN SAILORS CONDUCTING A FIREFIGHTING EXERCISE
(08:14) VARIOUS SHOTS – LATVIAN SAILORS CONDUCTING NAVAL OPERATIONS ON LVNS VIRSAITIS
(08:55) SOUNDBITE – COMMANDER JĀNIS AUCE, COMMANDER, STANDING NATO MINE COUNTERMEASURES GROUP ONE, NATO
“I am Commander Jānis Auce of the Latvian Navy and the commander of NATO Standing Mine Countermeasures Group One. This year, we are participating in exercise Freezing Winds. And this year, we are taking part in the exercise with six ships from six different nations. Our task force consists of more than 300 sailors from eight different nations. The primary objective for us during Freezing Winds is to train the ability to conduct maritime operations together with our Allied navies and to train mine counter-measure operations in a very challenging environment.”
(09:30) SOUNDBITE – COMMANDER JĀNIS AUCE, COMMANDER, STANDING NATO MINE COUNTERMEASURES GROUP ONE, NATO
“From my point of view, it's extremely important for NATO Allies to conduct exercises together. We are coming from different nations. Nationally, we have different procedures on board of ships, but all together we have similar procedures.”
(09:44) SOUNDBITE – COMMANDER JĀNIS AUCE, COMMANDER, STANDING NATO MINE COUNTERMEASURES GROUP ONE, NATO
“It's a great advantage to train together. Here in Finland, we have an extremely challenging environment. We have a lot of navigation close-outs. We have a lot of challenging bottom and underwater conditions. There's a turmoil, I’ll say. It's a huge advantage to be here and to conduct mine counter-measure operations.”
(10:01) SOUNDBITE – COMMANDER JĀNIS AUCE, COMMANDER, STANDING NATO MINE COUNTERMEASURES GROUP ONE, NATO
“Baltic Sentry is NATO enhanced vigilance activity. And primary objective is to build up a maritime situational awareness. And in case if it's required, we are also using our underwater capabilities to check underwater infrastructure.”
(10:16) SOUNDBITE – COMMANDER-CAPTAIN ANDERS BAY NISSEN, COMMANDING OFFICER OF HDMS NIELS JUEL, DANISH NAVY
“The exercise Freezing Winds is important to Denmark in order to secure the Baltic Sea region. We, on a daily basis, we secure the critical infrastructure and we make interoperability with our colleagues in order to be able to cope with any incidents which might occur in the region.”
(10:37) SOUNDBITE – COMMANDER-CAPTAIN ANDERS BAY NISSEN, COMMANDING OFFICER OF HDMS NIELS JUEL, DANISH NAVY
“We've seen incidents coming from the 2022 incident with the Nord Stream and it takes a lot of time to fix these issues. So if we could prevent them, that's the better way to do it. And we do so by being present with our naval forces and our air forces in the region.”
(10:55) SOUNDBITE – COMMANDER-CAPTAIN ANDERS BAY NISSEN, COMMANDING OFFICER OF HDMS NIELS JUEL, DANISH NAVY
“In practical terms, it means that we ought to be present. So in order to know what happens, beneath the sea, we need to be present with equipment and ships in order to gain a picture of what's happening there.”
(11:08) SOUNDBITE – COMMANDER-CAPTAIN ANDERS BAY NISSEN, COMMANDING OFFICER OF HDMS NIELS JUEL, DANISH NAVY
“Now, Finland, as a member of NATO, needs to encompass all the NATO procedures and Denmark, as a member for many years, we can provide Finns with that experience. And also it's important to learn from the Finns how to protect the Finnish archipelago. It's a difficult place to sail. In order to do so, we strengthen the defence of the entire North in the framework of NATO and the Nordic Defence Cooperation.”
(11:38) SOUNDBITE – LIEUTENANT COMMANDER ALEXANDER, COMMANDING OFFICER OF FGS DILLINGEN, GERMAN NAVY
“Today, we are conducting a mine counter-measure operation. The first idea is to practise it, as an exercise Freezing Winds to search for exercise mines. But still, during these exercises, we are also looking for historic ordnance that were left behind from the First and Second World War.”
(11:54) SOUNDBITE – LIEUTENANT COMMANDER ALEXANDER, COMMANDING OFFICER OF FGS DILLINGEN, GERMAN NAVY
“It's important to strengthen the interoperability between the different nations, because we all can learn from each other. We have several remotely operated vehicles or autonomous vehicles and everyone has different capabilities that we can share of.”
(12:13) SOUNDBITE – LIEUTENANT COMMANDER ALEXANDER, COMMANDING OFFICER OF FGS DILLINGEN, GERMAN NAVY
“A good example of international cooperation is, for example, that right now on FGS Dillingen, a Portuguese mine clearance diver team is on board. So that is a long-lasting cooperation between those two nations.”
(12:25) SOUNDBITE – LIEUTENANT COMMANDER ALEXANDER, COMMANDING OFFICER OF FGS DILLINGEN, GERMAN NAVY
“We are standing together and we are operating together, and we are taking care, as NATO Allies, of our critical underwater infrastructure and we are willing to protect those against any harassment or any threat.”
(12:40) SOUNDBITE IN FRENCH - LIEUTENANT COMMANDER ARNAULD, COMMANDING OFFICER OF FS SAGITTAIRE, FRENCH NAVY
“Baltic Sentry is important, on the one hand, to show that Allied countries know how to work together to protect undersea infrastructure of the Baltic Sea, but also to show our potential aggressors that we are also there to provide this protection, and the increasing number of patrols we are conducting in this area is there for that purpose, to show that whatever happens, we will be there to protect our infrastructure.”
(13:08) SOUNDBITE IN FRENCH - LIEUTENANT COMMANDER ARNAULD, COMMANDING OFFICER OF FS SAGITTAIRE, FRENCH NAVY
“The scope of the mission is to monitor the entire maritime area, to look at which vessels could pose a potential threat to all undersea infrastructure, whether it be cables, internet cables, for example, or pipelines running through the Baltic Sea. Once we have identified the vessels, we can monitor their activities, question them, and see if they pose a threat to this infrastructure.”
(13:35) SOUNDBITE IN PORTUGUESE - FIRST LIEUTENANT VALTER, DIVER OF THE MINE CLEARANCE DIVING TEAM, PORTUGUESE NAVY
“For us, the Portuguese divers here, aboard the German mine hunter, it is very important to do these training exercises together and to participate in these missions, because this way we can understand how each person works and how we can do each other's jobs together. We, the Portuguese divers aboard a German ship in Finnish territorial waters, are currently working with other NATO ships as well. It is very rewarding and satisfying to see how we all work together.”
(14:12) SOUNDBITE IN PORTUGUESE - FIRST LIEUTENANT VALTER, DIVER OF THE MINE CLEARANCE DIVING TEAM, PORTUGUESE NAVY
“For us divers, it is an added value. We carry out inspections to identify critical underwater infrastructure, because this way we can inspect exactly what is happening and what may be happening on site.”
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