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Liepaja, Latvia
Nation / PlaceLV

Liepaja, Latvia

Latvian Baltic port city; NATO's Baltic UUV operations hub and former Soviet submarine base.

Liepaja is Latvia's third-largest city and a former Soviet submarine base that hosted US Navy uncrewed underwater vehicle operations during NATO's BALTOPS exercise in June 2026.

Last refreshed: 24 July 2026

Key Question

From Soviet submarine pens to NATO UUV hub: has Liepaja become the Baltic's most strategically transformed city?

Timeline for Liepaja, Latvia

#4 8 Jun

Mentioned in: Undersea robots go core at BALTOPS

Autonomous Systems: Land & Sea
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Background

Liepaja is Latvia's third-largest city, on the Baltic coast about 200 km west of Riga, with a population of around 70,000. Its northern district, Karosta, was built as a closed Russian imperial naval city between 1890 and 1906 and remained a major Soviet submarine base, with nuclear weapon storage, until Russian troops withdrew in 1994.

Since Latvian independence the town has run a modern commercial port, and Latvia's 2004 NATO accession turned Liepaja into a frontline alliance port on the north-eastern flank. During BALTOPS 2026 in June, the US Navy's Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Group 1 operated Iver3 autonomous underwater vehicles from Liepaja for seabed mapping and harbour-protection work, and a multinational drill on 10 June paired US, Dutch and Latvian crews there.

Karosta's imperial and Soviet-era fortifications remain a heritage-tourism draw alongside the town's active defence role.

Common Questions
Where is Liepaja and why is it important to NATO?
Liepaja is Latvia's third-largest city on the south-west Baltic coast. It is a frontline NATO port on the Alliance's north-eastern flank, historically significant as a Russian imperial and Soviet naval base and now a hub for Baltic maritime exercises, including BALTOPS 2026 uncrewed undersea operations.Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liepaja
What is Karosta in Liepaja?
Karosta is the northern military district of Liepaja, built as a closed Russian imperial naval base between 1890 and 1906. It contained a large harbour, submarine pens and fortifications. During the Soviet era it was a major submarine base with nuclear weapon storage. It is now a heritage tourism site.Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karosta
What did the US Navy do in Liepaja during BALTOPS 2026?
The US Navy's Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Group 1 deployed Iver3 autonomous underwater vehicles from Liepaja for seabed mapping and mine-countermeasure missions. On 10 June 2026 it conducted a multinational harbour-protection drill with US, Dutch EOD and Latvian crews.Source: dvidshub.net/image/9736162
Source Material
BALTOPS 2026 Exercise Begins – USNI NewsLiepaja – Wikipedia