56 // JANUARY 2018 #358

Exercise

Report Brilliant Mariner 2017

rilliant Mariner 2017 was

designed to support

certification of the naval

component of the NATO Response

Force (NRF) for 2018. Created in

2003, the NRF is a rapid-reaction

force that includes maritime,

land, air and special forces

components. It consists of high-

readiness combat, command and

control (C2) and support/logistics

units drawn from allied nations.

The maritime commander of

the NRF rotates among different

nations annually. Five nations –

France, Italy, Spain the United

Kingdom and the United States –

currently have the required human

and materiel resources to provide

commanding assets to the NRF’s

Maritime Component Command

(MCC). In 2017, the MCC was

placed under the responsibility of

STRIKFORNATO, a naval command

headed by the Commander of

the US Sixth Fleet. On January

1, 2018, the French Maritime

Force (FRMARFOR) HQ is due to

assume command of the MCC

for the fourth time since 2008. It

will be headed by Rear Admiral

Olivier Lebas, a former Super

Étendard Modernisé pilot who led

Flottille 17F during early combat

operations in Afghanistan in 2001-

02, as part of the Charles de

Gaulle’s first combat deployment.

For Brilliant Mariner 2017,

FRMARFOR deployed a

multinational structure composed

of around 150 personnel on board

the Marine Nationale (French

Navy) landing helicopter dock

(LHD) Mistral, an amphibious

warfare ship equipped with

extensive C2 facilities.

Strike

B

Spanish Marines embarking into

helicopters on the ‘Juan Carlos I’

during the force-projection phase of

the exercise. A French Army SA330B

Puma heads a line-up of three Royal

Canadian Air Force CH-124s. NATO

Spanish Navy EAV-8B+

VA.1B-26 ‘01-916’ lands on

‘Juan Carlos I’ after a close

air support mission during

Brilliant Mariner. NATO

Strike