Troops and tanks sent for summer exercises

Thousands of British troops as well as tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery will be sent to countries in Europe in one of the largest deployments since the Cold War. The British Army would conduct exercises in nations such as Finland and North Macedonia to demonstrate howit had modernised into a ‘‘lethal, agile and global force’’, the Ministry of Defence said. About 8000 British troops are expected to join soldiers from Nato allies and the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a UK-led security coalition, for the summer exercises amid rising tensions with Russia. Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, said that the security of Europe ‘‘has never been more important’’. He promised a ‘‘show of solidarity and strength in one of the largest shared deployments since the Cold War’’.