USS Klakring sunk in US-UK naval exercise
The U.S. Navy and Royal Navy sank the decommissioned frigate USS Klakring (FFG-42) during a multinational sinking exercise in the Atlantic Ocean, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing the U.S. Naval Institute.
The exercise took place on Sept. 20 as part of Atlantic Thunder 2026, a U.S. 6th Fleet-led exercise held from Sept. 14-25. The frigate was sunk about 150 miles (240 km) off Scotland's northwest coast, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.
The newly commissioned Virginia-class submarine USS Massachusetts (SSN-798) delivered the final strike, firing an Mk48 Advanced Capability torpedo at Klakring. The frigate was also targeted by a Standard Missile 6 fired from the U.S. destroyer USS Paul Ignatius, as well as Naval Strike Missile and Sea Venom missiles launched by the Royal Navy’s HMS Portland and its Wildcat helicopter.
The exercise marked the Royal Navy’s first firing of an operational Naval Strike Missile and the first live firing of an operational Sea Venom missile against a realistic maritime target.
The participating forces included U.S. Navy ships and aircraft, the Royal Navy, the U.S. Air Force and Royal Air Force maritime patrol aircraft.
The former U.S. frigate USS Klakring entered U.S. Navy service in 1983 and was decommissioned in 2013. It became the fourth decommissioned U.S. Navy ship sunk in a SINKEX this year.
The exercise was intended to test allied maritime strike capabilities and collect data on the effects of different weapons against the target ship. Sensors placed on Klakring before the exercise were used to assess battle damage and will support further analysis of the weapons’ effects.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that U.S. forces carried out a strike that killed two people on a vessel suspected of narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.