US and UK Complete Atlantic Thunder 26 Exercise with SINKEX
The US Navy’s Sixth Fleet and the UK Royal Navy teamed up for two weeks of joint training called Atlantic Thunder 26, which included a live-fire exercise. Full details on the program have not been released, but as U.S. European Command reported, the exercise concluded on September 25 with “a very bad day” for the decommissioned frigate USS Klakring.
The program, which had been delayed for four months from May to September, kicked off a pre-sail conference at Faslane in the UK on September 10. It was a joint force multi-domain exercise. It included multi-axis and long-range maritime training, concluding with the SINEX. According to U.S. commanders, it was designed to increase U.S. and UK interoperability and strengthen the strategic partnership.
Joint air and surface strikes were coordinated during the exercise (USN)
The U.S. Navy participation included USS Paul Ignatius, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, along with the submarine USS Massachusetts. HMS Portland was also participating along with the Royal Air Force and U.S. Air Force. The exercise was underway from September 14 to 25.
A full report on the exercise is still pending, but it was said to include tests of weapons systems and targeting networks, with a focus on interoperability and information sharing. The U.S. Navy also reported that the two forces would be testing unmanned underwater vehicles from the Royal Navy.
It was the first time in four years the two navies trained together with a live-fire SINKEX element. In 2022, they sank the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, the ex-USS Boone.
The target for the 2026 exercise was the decommissioned frigate USS Klakring. The 4,100-ton displacement frigate was built at Bath Iron Works and commissioned in 1983. The vessel was 453 feet (138 meters) in length. After an active service career, she was decommissioned in 2013 and was laid up in Philadelphia before being towed to Scotland for this exercise.
The SINKEX took place off Scotland in the Hebrides Range. The vessel was positioned approximately 150 nautical miles offshore. EUCOM said the exercise consisted of joint air and surface strikes that sent the vessel under at a depth of approximately 6,000 feet.
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“The real sci-fi begins,” wrote EUCOM. “Uncrewed underwater vehicles will dive into the deep to scan the seabed and see exactly how much damage Allied firepower can do.”
They wrote that more details would be released in the future about the exercise and its results.
