What happened
Around 50 US Marines are being deployed to the Baltic Sea region as part of NATO's Baltic Sentry mission. The personnel, from the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, will support and protect critical undersea infrastructure, including power and data cables.
The deployment comes in response to a series of cable damage incidents in the region, with the most recent incident occurring in December 2024, where the EstLink 2 power cable between Estonia and Finland and several communication cables were ruptured, suspected to be deliberate sabotage.
The US Marines will operate alongside Finland's Coastal Brigade, providing advanced expeditionary surveillance and tactical reconnaissance capabilities. The mission, launched in January 2025, incorporates naval vessels, maritime patrol aircraft, naval drones, and new sensor technology to improve detection and response.
The US Marine Corps will provide specialized capabilities, including small unmanned aerial systems and littoral sensors, to feed data into NATO's shared operational picture. The rotation aims to strengthen collective readiness and deter hybrid threats in the Baltic littoral.
