1.
GV NATO ships at sea
0.05

2.
GV American cruiser
0.08

3.
GTV & SV Dutch mi???ile destroyers Friesland and I???c Sw???r???
0.22

4.
GV Ships PAN TO radar scanner
0.29

5.
GV Helicopter landing
0.37

6.
LV & GV Warships
0.50



Initials OS/1516 OS/1523



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Warships from the United States, Britain and the Netherlands have been taking part in a week-long joint exercise in the Caribbean Sea. It is the first big exercise by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in this part of the world. The exercise ends on 28 February.

The ships form the current strength of NATO's international naval squadron STANAVFORLANT (Standing Naval Force Atlantic), designed for the peacetime protection of the Atlantic shipping routes.

Normal strength of the force, which was set up in 1968, is between four and sight ships of destroyer size. Ships from the NATO countries' navias serv??? on a rotational basis in the squadron, and other types of vessel are added from time to time, making it flexible in size and capability. For this exercise it was joined by a large U.S. missile cruiser.