NORFOLK, Va. -- The United States and 13 other nations have launched a massive show of military muscle in the Atlantic Ocean to demonstrate Western capability to muster a formidable naval force in time of war, military officials said Tuesday.
The U.S. Atlantic Command said the largest maritime war games since World War II, involving 120,000 troops, 250 ships and more than 1,000 aircraft, will begin Aug. 1 and continue throughOctober in six phases.
Air Force Capt. John Peters, spokesman for Atlantic Command headquarters in Norfolk, said the maneuvers encompass all aspects of maritime warfare.
He said 'Ocean Venture '81' would include air assaults, anti-submarine warfare, bombing raids, mock battles between carrier battle groups, and a massive American amphibious crossing of the Atlantic Ocean ending in an engagement with the Spanish Navy in a staged battle.
Peters said the exercises are designed 'to demonstrate for anybody who wants to see it, including potential adversaries and allies alike, that the Western nations can mobilize a naval force.'
The exercises will extend into the Baltic and Norwegian seas, within close range of the Soviet Union, Peters confirmed. The Norwegian Sea maneuvers will include the battle between two U.S. carrier battle groups.
The first phase, which involves joint participation of five South American nations, the U.S. Navy and Air Force Strategic Air Command in the South Atlantic Ocean, is already under way.
The Atlantic Command includes the Navy's Atlantic Fleet and, during wartime or when activated for special operations, units of the Air Force, Army, Marines and Coast Guard. All branches of the U.S. Armed Forces will participate.
'The exercise is designed to demonstrate and improve the capability of Western maritime forces to protect and maintain free use of the sea lanes of communication,' Peters said.
The nations participating include the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada, West Germany, Portugal, France, Denmark and Spain.
The maneuvers are a combination of previously scheduled exercises during a compressed time period 'in order to provide realistic and integrated training in a war-at-sea scenario,' Peters added.
The South Atlantic phase, which began July 14 and continues through Sept. 14, is a combined naval task force operation with air surveillance activity by SAC.
The exercises, which overlap, will peak in mid-August when operations will be under way simultaneously from South Atlantic north, through the Caribbean Sea, along the eastern seaboard and into the North Atlantic.
Peters said the maneuvers are a bilateral operation not connected with NATO and are under the command of Adm. Harry D. Train Jr., commander in chief of the Atlantic Command and the Atlantic Fleet.
