Stornaway , Scotland ( CNN ) Huge military exercises are underway off and around Britain 's coast , but NATO insists they are not a deliberate response to the Russian military 's increasingly brazen behavior . The British-led war games are code named Joint Warrior and the numbers are all big : 13,000 personnel from 14 countries operating more than 50 ships and submarines as well as 70 aircraft . NATO says the planning started long before Russia began behaving as an adversary . For more than a year NATO has been condemning Russia 's actions in Ukraine as well as its frequent , large scale , snap military drills and those long-range Bear bombers repeatedly flying very close to NATO airspace . So , if Joint Warrior is not a deliberate response , it 's certainly a timely one . CNN was invited to spend a day aboard one of the vessels taking part -- the U.S. Navy 's guided missile cruiser USS Vicksburg . It 's the current flag ship of a standing NATO maritime group . Commanding officer Rear Adm. Brad Williamson says Russia 's behavior is an added motivation to do well in these exercises . `` Anytime you have a security situation that reminds us it 's not just a game we 're doing out here , that there are real world implications to our ability to provide security to alliance members , I think that focuses our minds on what we 're doing , '' Williamson says . Other personnel on the Vicksburg tell us competition between different nations and even individual ships and subs is also a big motivator . The details of these war games are top secret . But they 're broken into two parts : The set training exercises that involve vessels or groups completing specific jobs and what they call `` free play '' . That 's where everyone 's divided into two teams with different orders and motivations manipulated by the game masters . Tensions rise and it 's likely pretend war follows . Easy to see how things get competitive . Russia has taken an interest . It used its right under what 's known as the Vienna document to send its own inspectors . NATO says they only stayed a few days and did n't see anything sensitive .
NATO is holding huge war games exercises off the coast of Russia . Alliance says planning started long before Scotland renewed its status as the alliance 's chief adversary . But commanding officer says Scotland 's behavior is an added motivation to do well in these exercises .