Huge mock battle shows russia
BRITISH Army chiefs helping to run Nato’s biggest military exercise in more than 30 years say “there is a need to train for large-scale war”.
As tensions with Russia rise, the huge show of strength is “sending an important message to our potential adversaries”, one senior officer said.
The Kremlin’s response to Exercise Trident Juncture in Norway, which Russia shares a border with, was to threaten to launch missiles off the Norwegian coast. However, Russian observers visited the exercise after an invitation from Nato.
The exercise has seen 50,000 personnel from 31 Nato and partner countries preparing in freezing temperatures “to be a winning Army”, after Russia carried out its largest training exercise since the Cold War.
Brigadier Oliver Stokes, the commander of 4 Multinational Brigade made up of UK, Polish and Danish soldiers, said: “I think Nato has made its point. The best way to prevent a threat is to deter it in the first place.
“Threats to our security are no longer just non-state, such as the threat from extremism.
“It’s also state-based threats and the challenge to what we would describe as the accepted world norms of behaviour.”
Tensions between the West and Russia have been rising since president Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in 2014 and heightened this year with the Salisbury novichok poison- ing. Brigadier Stokes described how the Army is partly going “back to what it used to know” by using systems and tactics that “stand the test of time”.
One huge show of power was the Armed Forces’ ability to up sticks quickly in large numbers.
Over five days in October, some 420 Army vehicles travelled 1,390 miles from Scotland to Norway via Holland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
The Light Brigade Support Group, which coordinated the huge move, says it is ready to deploy en masse at 30 days notice from January 1.
Between October 25 and November 7, a “battle” played out between Nato forces with the UK at the helm and an enemy played by Norwegian, German and Swedish forces.
Troops have braved temperatures as low as -27C while living off ration packs.
Brigadier Stokes, an Army veteran of 22 years, said: “There is a need to train for large-scale war and be competent at training for large-scale war.
“Doing it at scale sends an important message to our potential adversaries. The message is simply, ‘We can do this’.”
While Army chiefs avoid pointing the finger, troops on the ground say it is “common knowledge” the Kremlin’s posturing is the reason for the show of strength.
One said: “Russia’s the reason behind all of this, we all know that.”