A successful first test for CTF Med with Steadfast Duel 25 conducted by NATO at the end of October.
Recently established and commanded this year by France, the Command Task Force Mediterranean (CTF Med), NATO’s tactical headquarters based in Toulon, confirmed its operational capability during the major annual exercise Steadfast Duel 25 (STDU25). The objective was clear: to test its ability to assume tactical command of the Alliance’s maritime forces in the Mediterranean should its defense plans be activated.
A large-scale exercise in a new format
“Steadfast Duel 25 is a large-scale exercise that engages the entire NATO chain of command, from the strategic to the tactical level. For the first time, this simulated exercise connected NATO’s Supreme Headquarters, the three Joint Force Commands (Brunssum, Naples, and Norfolk), as well as its Air, Land, and Sea component commands in ‘warfighting HQ’ mode at a continuous, 24-hour battle pace,” explains Captain Sébastien, Chief of Staff of CTF Med. Led by the NATO Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) in Stavanger, this highly realistic, multi-domain exercise brought together 7,000 civilian and military personnel from across the Alliance.
Conventional conflict, asymmetric and hybrid threats (drones, CBRN, etc.), attacks in cyber and information spaces with economic and social repercussions: a wide range of threats faced by the participants. The scenario immersed them in a complex environment based on NATO defense plans, simulating both a collective defense operation under Article 5 and the fight against terrorist groups on the Alliance’s borders.
A significant challenge for CTF Med
Commanded by Rear Admiral Grégoire (also Deputy Operations Officer at CECMED), the CTF Med staff seized the opportunity of this exercise at the beginning of its mandate, recalling its forty reinforcements, expert sailors from the French Navy and allied nations, who can be activated in ten days.
Being able to effectively command NATO maritime forces in the Mediterranean? That was the objective of the 60 personnel comprising CTF Med. Commanding international naval force groups under exercise conditions in an area as strategic as the Mediterranean is another challenge. Quickly thrown into the thick of things, CTF Med helped guarantee freedom of navigation and maneuver, protecting maritime lines of communication, maritime approaches, and critical infrastructure of the littoral nations against particularly realistic threats (trafficking, terrorists, drones, etc.).