NATO MUltimedia

A NATO submarine search and rescue exercise has taken place in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Dynamic Monarch/Kurtaran 2021 focused on utilising various technologies to save sailors stuck on a sunken submarine. The exercise involved assets and personnel from Italy and Turkey together with personnel from Canada, Greece, Spain and the United States. It was organised by the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office (ISMERLO) and was tied to the Turkish Navy exercise Kurtaran. It took place from 12 to 24 September off Aksaz, north-eastern Turkey.

The footage includes various shots of the exercise such as divers being lowered into the sea, simulated casualties being rescued from a submarine, plus soundbites from Turkish and Italian participants of the exercise.

All personnel were fully vaccinated against COVID19 and had their PCR tests prior to the exercise.

How do you save sailors stuck on a sunken submarine? A NATO exercise aimed at training for such a scenario, has taken place off the coast of Turkey.

(00:00) VARIOUS SHOTS - TCG BAYRAKTAR (L-402) AMPHIBIOUS LANDING SHIP – TANK PROCEEDING TO EXERCISE DURING DYNAMIC MONARCH/KURTARAN 2021 EXERCISE
(00:10) CLOSE UP SHOT – TURKISH FLAG BLOWING IN THE WIND
(00:18) CLOSE UP SHOT - TURKISH PERSONNEL ON TCG ALEMDAR (A-582) SHIP
(00:22) VARIOUS SHOTS - TURKISH MEDICAL PERSONNEL OF THE SUBMARINE PARACHUTE ASSISTANCE GROUP (SPAG) PARACHUTING INTO OPEN WATER
(00:58) VARIOUS SHOTS - TURKISH MEDICAL PERSONNEL OF THE SUBMARINE PARACHUTE ASSISTANCE GROUP (SPAG) SET UP TEMPORARY FLOATING MEDICAL SUPPORT FOR ESCAPING SUBMARINERS.
(01:18) VARIOUS UNDERWATER SHOTS – SIMULATED CASUALTY IN SUBMARINE ESCAPE IMMERSION SUITE (SEIE) THAT ALLOWS SUBMARINERS TO ESCAPE FROM A SUNKEN SUBMARINE
(02:05) AERIAL DRONE SHOTS (NO SOUND) - TURKISH MEDICAL PERSONNEL OF THE SUBMARINE PARACHUTE ASSISTANCE GROUP (SPAG) RESCUING SIMULATED INJURED SUBMARINERS
(02:35) VARIOUS SHOTS - TURKISH MEDICAL PERSONNEL OF THE SUBMARINE PARACHUTE ASSISTANCE GROUP (SPAG) TRANSPORTING SIMULATED CASUALTIES TO TCG ALEMDAR (A-582) SHIP
(02:57) VARIOUS SHOTS - TURKISH MEDICAL PERSONNEL ON TCG ALEMDAR (A-582) SHIP PROVIDING EMERGENCY MEDICAL ASSISTANCE TO SIMULATED INJURED SUBMARINERS
(03:24) VARIOUS SHOTS - TURKISH MEDICAL PERSONNEL ON TCG ALEMDAR (A-582) SHIP PROVIDING EMERGENCY MEDICAL ASSISTANCE TO SIMULATED INJURED SUBMARINERS AGAINST DECOMPRESSION ILLNESS IN DECOMPRESSION CHAMBER
(03:30) VARIOUS SHOTS - AS – 532 COUGAR HELICOPTER LANDING ON TCG ALEMDAR (A-582) SHIP FOR MEDICAL EVACUATION OF SIMULATED INJURED SUBMARINERS
(03:54) VARIOUS SHOTS - AS – 532 COUGAR HELICOPTER TAKING OFF FROM TCG ALEMDAR (A-582) SHIP FOR MEDICAL EVACUATION OF SIMULATED INJURED SUBMARINERS
(04:12) VARIOUS SHOTS - REMOTELY OPERATED VEHICLE (ROV) ON TCG ALEMDAR.
(04:28) VARIOUS SHOTS - TURKISH NAVY DIVERS PREPARE TO ENTER THE WATER
(05:07) CLOSE UP SHOT - TURKISH NAVY DIVERS ENTER THE WATER
(05:14) CLOSE UP SHOT – A MONITOR SCREEN SHOWING A LIVE STREAM FROM THE TURKISH NAVY DIVER’S POINT OF VIEW
(05:17) UNDERWATER SHOT – TURKISH NAVY DIVERS INSPECTING THE SUBMARINE
(05:27) VARIOUS SHOTS - TURKISH NAVY PERSONNEL ON TCG ALEMDAR (A-582) ASSIST THE DIVERS BACK TO THE SURFACE
(05:47) WIDE SHOT – TURKISH NAVY PERSONNEL ON TCG ALEMDAR (A-582) MONITOR A SCREEN SHOWING A LIVE STREAM FROM THE REMOTELY OPERATED VEHICLE (ROV)
(06:17) VARIOUS SHOTS - SUBMARINE RESCUE CHAMBER (SRC) FOR RESCUING SUBMARINERS FROM A DISTRESSED SUBMARINE BEING LOWERED INTO THE WATER
(06:59) CLOSE UP SHOT - MONITOR SCREEN SHOWING A LIVE STREAM FROM THE REMOTELY OPERATED VEHICLE (ROV) LOOKING AT THE SUBMARINE RESCUE CHAMBER (SRC) UNDER WATER
(07:05) SUBMARINE IN THE WATER
(07:20) VARIOUS CLOSE UP SHOTS – US NAVY UNIFORM AND BADGES
(07:41) CLOSE UP SHOT – BANGLADESH NAVY UNIFORM (INVITED AS OBSERVERS)
(07:54) CLOSE UP SHOT – SPANISH NAVY UNIFORM
(08:04) MEDIUM SHOT – INDONESIAN NAVY PERSONNEL (INVITED AS OBSERVERS)
(08:08) SOUNDBITE (TURKISH) STAFF SERGEANT BAYRAM ERKUZU, RESCUE BELL OPERATOR, TURKISH NAVY
“Our main goal as Turkish Navy first-class divers is to rescue personnel from the submarine and complete these training events successfully. The rescue diving chamber like a submarine reaching for a hand. This hand saves lives. The satisfaction of saving a life is priceless. When we do this, we are more worried about our friends than about ourselves. We do our job professionally. This is a dedication worthy of top-level divers.”
(08:32) SOUNDBITE (ITALIAN) COMMANDER GENNARO VITAGLIANO, BRANCH HEAD INTERNATIONAL SUBMARINE ESCAPE AND RESCUE LIAISON OFFICE (ISMERLO)
“After the Kursk disaster in 2000, NATO realised the lack of an organisation able to optimise the efforts and resources in case of a submarine in distress. Consequently, the Submarine Escape and Rescue Working Group was given the task of studying this issue and its possible solution. This investigation led to the establishing of NATO’s International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office in 2004. At the beginning, it was based in Norfolk, in Virginia, and now in London.”
(09:15) SOUNDBITE (ITALIAN) COMMANDER GENNARO VITAGLIANO, BRANCH HEAD INTERNATIONAL SUBMARINE ESCAPE AND RESCUE LIAISON OFFICE (ISMERLO)
“ISMERLO communicates with 41 countries and is based exclusively on international cooperation in order to assist a submarine in difficulty with all available means everywhere in the world. ISMERLO is a coordination hub and a command and control tool in case there is a submarine in distress. It is not only available for NATO countries, but for all countries.”