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Nato celebrates launch of new fleet to fight China and Russia in ‘battle of the Atlantic’
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, left, and Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis, right, salute at the opening of a ceremony marking full operation of the Nato's Joint Force Command aboard the USS Kearsarge

NATO has been celebrating the launch of a major new fleet based in the United States that, it said, is preparing to fight “the battle of the Atlantic” against Chinese and Russian forces.

Joint Force Command Norfolk, the first such command to be located in the US, will join similar Nato commands in Brunssum, Netherlands and Naples, Italy.

At a ceremony on Friday, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff General Mark Milley said: “It’s the mission of this command to fight the battle of the Atlantic in the event of armed conflict.

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