HMS Prince of Wales hosts behind-closed-doors maritime summit
HMS Prince of Wales, the current NATO command ship, has played host to two days of behind-closed-doors meetings of the NATO Military Committee.
The meetings were attended by all military representatives of the alliance's member states who have the job to provide their political and military leadership advice on military policy and strategy.
Representatives from Finland and Sweden - both nations have applied to join NATO - were also invited.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine an ever-present thought and, perhaps, driving forward debate on difficult issues like more integrated and efficient working, NATO's maritime strategy was up for discussion.
Admiral Rob Bauer, Chair of the NATO Military Committee, said: "If you fight in the maritime domain you need information from space, you need information from cyber.
"But you also need information or assistance from air assets and, sometimes, even from land assets.
"So every domain is assisting the other domains and it's a new topic."
The admiral added: "You need to be able to exchange the data that has been collected, you need to be able to then store part of the data, you need to be able to search through the data to find the relevant information.
"And then use that information to give direction to the units at sea, on land, in the air etc."
Not all NATO nations have maritime assets, so the meeting was designed to showcase how, in a NATO context, sea power can be effective.
In a series of discussions hosted by the NATO Maritime Command, the NATO Military Committee and representatives from Sweden and Finland focused on the threats, challenges and opportunities of the maritime domain.
They also explored potential ways to build on the alliance's response and further strengthen NATO's Deterrence and Defence Posture.
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