NATO’s third NEST 2025 exercise, held near Brindisi, highlighted Türkiye’s Anadolu Task Group as Rear Admiral Mevlüd Savaş Bilican outlined NATO’s resilience.
NATO has launched its third large-scale Neptune Strike 2025 exercise, NEPTUNE STRIKE 25-3 (NEST 25-3), running from 22 to 26 September in the mid-Mediterranean off Brindisi, Italy. The enhanced Vigilance Activity aims to demonstrate NATO’s ability to integrate high-end maritime strike capabilities, strengthen deterrence and maintain readiness across land, sea, air, space and cyber domains.
At a press day held aboard the flagship TCG Anadolu—where TurDef was the only private Turkish media outlet present—Commander of the Amphibious Task Force, Rear Admiral Mevlüd Savaş Bilican, delivered a detailed briefing.
Following the press briefing Bilican also told TurDef: “The importance of this exercise is to show the resilience of NATO units and our steadfast posture. It is very important for us to work with our allies in order to improve interoperability and to show our capacities and capabilities as well.”
Discussing the ship’s role, he added: “We are conducting drills, including amphibious exercises with the Italian Navy. This is basically for the amphibious operations that we are conducting in this region with our Italian counterparts.”
The Turkish Anadolu Task Group—including TCG Anadolu, frigate TCG Gökova, corvette TCG Gökçeada, submarine TCG I. İnönü, helicopters, ZAHA (MAV) armoured amphibious vehicles, landing craft, a marine battalion and special-operations teams—joined forces from NATO and allied nations.
NATO’s Standing Naval Maritime Group-2 contributed two frigates (Turkish TCG Barbaros and ITS Carlo Bergamini). Italy added the amphibious assault ship ITS San Giorgio, helicopters, a marine company, landing craft, assault boats and a first-class diver team.
From September 18 to 22, aviation assets were sent out and TCG Anadolu boarded at Aksaz Naval Base before going to Brindisi. The exercise will include light-arms firing, maritime surveillance, amphibious rehearsals and assaults, anti-submarine warfare, and a mass-casualty (MASCAL) drills from September 23 to 26. After that, there will be a port visit to Taranto from September 27 to 30.
The event gives Türkiye a chance to show off the Anadolu Task Group's capabilities to NATO partners in a high-profile way. This will improve interoperability between the two groups and show how strong the Turkish Navy is in the field.
Author: Özgür Ekşi
