Allied forces conducted anti-submarine exercises in the Baltic this week, with a German submarine playing the adversary and U.S. surveillance aircraft participating. Officials cite rising drone sightings and suspected sabotage of undersea internet cables as signs of increased Russian "hybrid warfare." Sweden, which joined NATO in 2023, granted access to the stealth ship HMS Helsingborg during the drills. Commanders warn the security environment resembles Cold War-era tensions, prompting Baltic states to boost defense spending and readiness.
U.S. Joins NATO Baltic Drills as Allies Warn of Russian 'Hybrid Warfare'
Allied forces conducted anti-submarine exercises in the Baltic this week, with a German submarine playing the adversary and U.S. surveillance aircraft participating. Officials cite rising drone sightings and suspected sabotage of undersea internet cables as signs of increased Russian "hybrid warfare." Sweden, which joined NATO in 2023, granted access to the stealth ship HMS Helsingborg during the drills. Commanders warn the security environment resembles Cold War-era tensions, prompting Baltic states to boost defense spending and readiness.
11:19 PM, 11/11/2025Security
Stockholm — NATO Exercises Spotlight Rising Security Concerns in the Baltic
A growing number of unexplained drone sightings near airports and military bases, together with suspected sabotage of undersea infrastructure, has heightened alarm across Europe. NATO allies warn the region is increasingly caught in a gray zone between peace and war, accusing Moscow of escalating what they call "hybrid warfare." This week, NATO demonstrated its readiness in contested Baltic waters as allied forces conducted anti-submarine drills out of Stockholm.
Our CBS News team observed an exercise in which a German submarine simulated an adversary conducting covert espionage and sabotage missions aimed at NATO partners in northern Europe. Allied ships and aircraft—including U.S. surveillance planes—worked together to locate and track the mock threat across the Baltic Sea.
"NATO is a defensive alliance," Commander Arlo Abrahamson, a U.S. Navy officer and spokesman for NATO's maritime headquarters, told CBS News. "The potential threats of adversaries in this region are interconnected throughout the world."
Abrahamson warned that any conflict drawing in northern Europe would also have direct consequences for the United States and global security. Several NATO members along the Baltic—Sweden, Finland, Poland and the Baltic states—share coastlines with Russia and have expressed concern about a pattern of incidents they attribute to Russian actions.
Officials have pointed to suspected damage to undersea data cables—critical arteries of the global internet that carry trillions of dollars in financial transactions daily—as one alarming example. Coupled with unusual drone activity near infrastructure, some analysts say Russia may be testing tactics and thresholds for disruption short of open war.
Sweden, which ended its long policy of military non-alignment and joined NATO in 2023 after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, led the week's drills and gave CBS News rare access to the stealth warship HMS Helsingborg during the operation.
Submarine flotilla Commander Paula Wallenburg of the Swedish Navy summarized the mood: "We're not at peace, but not at war. We're somewhere in between." She added that current tensions resemble aspects of the Cold War, when adversaries probed each other's resolve without triggering full-scale conflict.
The Kremlin has publicly framed relations with NATO as adversarial and has criticized alliance support for Ukraine. In response, Baltic-area NATO members have pledged to increase defense budgets and strengthen readiness, underscoring how regional incidents can prompt broader military and political shifts across the alliance.
What this means: The drills underscore NATO's emphasis on collective defense and situational awareness in a strategically sensitive theater. Officials warn that hybrid tactics—ranging from drones to potential undersea sabotage—require coordinated military, intelligence and infrastructure protection efforts across allied countries.