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NATO Launches the Fourth Iteration of NEPTUNE STRIKE 2025

STRIKFORNATO

Nov 18 2025

Oeiras, Portugal -- The fourth iteration of NATO's premier enhanced Vigilance Activity (eVA), Neptune Strike 25-4, will take place from 19 to 26 November 2025, combining the maritime-strike capabilities of both the United Kingdom and Italian Carrier Strike Groups operating out of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Royal Navy's aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales alongside the Italian Navy's aircraft carrier ITS Cavour will be under NATO's operational command, led by Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO), headquartered in Oeiras, Portugal. Combined with multiple Allied air and naval assets, the two carrier strike groups will execute full-spectrum multi-domain operations across Europe as far north as the Baltic Sea region, to the Black Sea, and along NATO's South-Eastern flank.

While both carrier strike groups will be in the Mediterranean Sea, their aviation assets will carry out long-range strike missions on training ranges in Bulgaria, Poland and Romania, supported and coordinated by various air and ground assets. Combined forces from 10 Allied nations - Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the Unites States - will participate in operations consisting of carrier-based aviation missions, anti-submarine and air-defence warfare activities, and surface warfare operations.

Unique to this iteration of Neptune Strike is the involvement of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from the NATO Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Force (NISRF) based at Sigonella, Italy. NISRF can carry out radar reconnaissance and surveillance autonomously and independent of the weather and time of day - a unique capability for the Alliance.

In this iteration of Neptune Strike, the fifth-generation capabilities of the U.K. and Italian carrier-based F-35s - working alongside B-52 Stratofortresses from the U.S. bomber task force, NATO RQ-4D unmanned aircraft, and other advanced Alliance assets - underscore NATO's commitment to defending every inch of Allied territory.

The Neptune Strike series is designed to demonstrate NATO's ability to integrate high-end maritime strike capabilities, strengthen deterrence, and ensure freedom of navigation across critical waterways. It also aims to secure strategic maritime chokepoints while testing interoperability across the air, land and sea.

As part of Project Neptune, which was originally conceived in 2020, the Neptune Strike series underscores NATO's ability to integrate multinational naval and strike forces rapidly, even over long distances. These activities are long-planned, defensive in nature, and fully compliant with international law.

Story by JFC Naples & Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO