NATO to Stage Scaled-Back Drills in the Baltic Sea

The annual NATO BALTOPS naval exercise in the Baltic Sea will be scaled down to exactly half the size compared to the 2025 exercise.

According to Reuters, the maneuvers, which began this week, will involve approximately 6,000 service members and around 20 ships from 15 alliance member states. This is approximately half the size of the 2025 exercise.

The agency's sources attribute the scaled-down nature of the maneuvers to operational restrictions—NATO ships are drawn away in other regions, including the Strait of Hormuz.