Washington: The US and five other NATO allies have kicked off exercise Dynamic Mongoose off the coast of Iceland on June 29 to enhance their anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare skills.

The exercise is designed to improve NATO allies’ interoperability during multiple submarine warfare operations and will feature drills where the submarines alternate “hunting and being hunted” as they communicate with air and surface ship participants.

“Exercises today seize opportunities for NATO and allied nations to sharpen war-fighting skills by focusing on high-end capabilities including Anti-Submarine Warfare,” Vice Adm. Keith Blount, commander of NATO’s Allied Maritime Command, said a NATO news release.

The exercise is slated to run between June 29 and July 10 and involves five other NATO allies: Canada, France, Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom. Although Iceland is not participating, it is providing logistical support as the host nation.

The guided-missile destroyer Roosevelt and fast-attack submarine Indiana will join four other surface ships from the United Kingdom, Canada and Norway, and four other submarines from the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway and Germany.

“NATO’s annual Anti-Submarine-warfare exercise Dynamic Mongoose remains one of the most challenging exercises and an excellent opportunity for NATO nations’ naval forces to practice and evaluate their anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare skill sets in the challenging environment of the North Atlantic,” Commander of NATO Submarines Rear Adm. E. Andrew Burcher said in a NATO news release.