Nato flexes muscle in North Sea

Nato flexed its muscles in the North Sea this week in a display of military might, as Russia allegedly tested the alliance’s defences on its eastern flank.

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BATTLE-TESTED: Captain David W Skaroski, CO of USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier, poses as it sails during the Nato Neptune Strike 2025 exercise in the North Sea.

F-18 fighter jets lined up on the world’s largest aircraft carrier, flanked by 20 ships and with some 10,000 military personnel from 13 countries.

US destroyers and French and Danish frigates escorted the giant USS Gerald R Ford on the high seas as part of Nato’s Neptune Strike 25-3 exercise.

F-35 and F-18 jets flew overhead in a diamond formation behind an E-2 Hawkeye, in a demonstration of their capabilities and to test their coordination at a time of high tension with Moscow.