Army in dry run of ‘Russia invasion’
TROOPS are practising how they would move thousands of armoured units into Europe should Russia attack a Nato ally.
Armoured vehicles from the 7th Light Mechanised Brigade plus engineers’ tractors, Land Rovers and support vehicles were loaded on to 23,000-ton cargo vessel Anvil Point near Southampton yesterday.
Some 1,500 service personnel are joining Steadfast Defender.The Nato exercise – biggest since the ColdWar – is a show of the alliance’s unity and capability.
Capt Greg Jardine, of 17 Port and Maritime Regiment, said: “It’s an escalation in tempo... what we need to do in case anything ever comes to fruition. The soldiers know this is their job, whether it is peacetime or wartime.
Volume
“Their job role doesn’t necessarily change if we were to be at war. They still have their job to load up the ship.
“The sheer volume means we are on 24-hour operations.”
Some 580 British troops are helping to load ships bound for Germany, as part of Steadfast Defender.
From there, the units will travel to Poland.
The Army has plans in case major ports are attacked. In one option, logistics experts would move to a beach and load ferries using floating pontoons, protected by Marines.
Capt Jardine added: “There would still be sailings. It would be up to our force protection and intelligence what dictated would be the biggest threat.”
Aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, which is leading the maritime mission, set sail towards Norway on Monday.
It will be at the centre of the exercises across Scandinavia and northern Europe.