NATO's Dynamic Manta exercise demonstrates unmanned ASW integration

Italian Fremm class frigate ITS Spartaco Schergat (F-589) and Todari class submarine ITS Pietro Venuti (S-528) during NATO Exercise Dynamic Manta 2026 off the coast of Sicily. (Devrim Yaylali)

NATO's largest anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise in the Mediterranean, Dynamic Manta 2026, is wrapping up on 6 March after starting off the coast of Sicily on 23 February. The exercise is designed to strengthen collective defence, and sharpen interoperability across the full spectrum of maritime operations.

This year's iteration brought together subsurface, surface, and air assets. The submarine contingent included the Italian Todaro-class submarines ITS Pietro Venuti (S-528) and ITS Romeo Romei (S-529); the Hellenic Navy's Papanikolis-class submarine HS Katsonis (S-123); and the Turkish Navy's Gür-class submarine TCG 1. İnönü (S-360).

On the surface, the Italian Navy deployed the Bergamini-class frigate ITS Spartaco Schergat (F-589) and the Vulcano-class logistic support ship ITS Vulcano (A-5335). Spain contributed the Santa María-class frigate ESPS Navarra (F-87). Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) was represented by ITS Virginio Fasan (F-591) and the Hellenic Navy's Elli-class frigate HS Limnos (F-451).

Maritime patrol and air ASW capabilities included P-8A Poseidon aircraft from Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, operating alongside Canadian and Portuguese P-3 Orion aircraft, a French ATL2 (Atlantique 2), a Turkish P-72 maritime patrol aircraft, and ASW helicopters from Italy and the United States.

In order to practice infiltration an extraction from submarines members of the United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance and Greek special forces also took part in the exercise.

Unmanned ASW

Dynamic Manta 2026 included the operational integration of an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) into a high-end, multi-threat ASW scenario. The system, provided by Thales Group, is being tested against real submarines, a step beyond previous experimentation-focused events.