Eight NATO member states have launched anti-submarine warfare exercises in the Mediterranean Sea, the alliance said in a press release on Monday.

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NATO have launched anti-submarine exercises in the Mediterranean Sea.

Soldiers hoist the flags of the members countries of the Atlantic Alliance (NATO) during the farewell ceremony at the SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) in Rocquencourt, Paris suburb, on March 31, 1967.

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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Eight NATO member states have launched anti-submarine warfare exercises in the Mediterranean Sea, the alliance said in a press release on Monday.”NATO’s Submarine Warfare Exercise DYNAMIC MANTA 2016 (DYMA 16) began today off the Sicilian coast, with ships, submarines and aircraft and personnel from eight allied nations converging on the Central Mediterranean Sea,” the release stated.

Submarines, surface ships and maritime aircraft from France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States will participate in drills to enhance naval forces’ warfighting skills in a multinational and multi-threat environment,, according to the release.

“The submarines will take turns hunting and being hunted, closely coordinating their efforts with the air and surface participants,” the release noted.

The United States and NATO have been building up their combined military presence in Europe. In early February, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said Washington would quadruple its funding to support the US posture in Europe, to reach $3.4 billion in 2017.