NATO simulates Russia conflict in major Mediterranean war games

Aboard a NATO warship positioned off Italy’s coast, U.S. partners are carrying out a major military drill designed to simulate scenarios that could arise in a potential confrontation with Russia.

On November 20, a CBS News team was transported by helicopter with the Italian military to the HMS Prince of Wales, a British aircraft carrier operating in the Mediterranean Sea. The vessel currently hosts 26 U.S.-manufactured F-35 fighter jets.

The ongoing exercise, known as Neptune Strike, brings together the United States and nine allied nations — including the United Kingdom, Greece, Poland, and Türkiye — to rehearse long-range strike operations along NATO’s eastern flank, targeting training areas located near Russia.

A central aim of the drill is the protection of strategic waterways such as the Mediterranean Sea, which links Europe to Africa and the Middle East and carries roughly 30% of global oil shipments, according to United Nations data.

The exercise comes amid growing pressure from Russia, which has been testing the U.S.-led alliance with repeated incursions into NATO airspace involving drones and fighter jets.

“I view those activities as attempts to strain the alliance,” said Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, head of U.S. European Command and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, in an interview with CBS News.

Grynkewich — a four-star general overseeing approximately 80,000 U.S. personnel — has previously warned that NATO must be ready to confront simultaneous conflicts involving Russia and China by 2027.

“We certainly do not desire that outcome, but preparedness for any scenario is essential,” he said, stressing that conflict with one or both major powers is “absolutely not” inevitable. “Our primary objective is to deter such a conflict from ever occurring.”

Although the United States has participated in previous iterations of Neptune Strike, its presence this year was more limited as allied nations face heightened pressure from the Trump administration to increase defence contributions. Dating back to his first term, former President Trump has repeatedly urged NATO members to raise defence spending to at least 5% of their GDP.

Last month, the Pentagon also announced cuts to the number of U.S. troops stationed in Eastern Europe.

Even so, the U.S. Air Force’s Bomber Task Force deployed B-52 aircraft to participate in this year’s operation.

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has mired Moscow in a prolonged and costly conflict, resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties.

“The war in Ukraine has demonstrated that the NATO alliance is more vital now than ever,” said Lt. Col. Mike Carty, a British fighter pilot and Royal Air Force squadron commander.

Carty noted that NATO is closely observing and learning from developments on the battlefield in Ukraine. He added that Russia’s intent was to destabilise Europe and weaken NATO — but, in his view, “the effect has been the opposite.”

Grynkewich told CBS News that NATO maintains the capability to fight a war today if necessary, underscoring that such readiness is the strongest deterrent to any adversary.

By Tamilla Hasanova