Show of force on Russia’s border..
UK and US troops prep for ‘urgent threat’ in wargame
BRITISH forces put on a show of strength in Russia’s backyard yesterday in a NATO exercise, as an army chief called the Kremlin threat “very urgent”.
State-of-the-art British helicopters swooped over a land assault in Estonia as part of the alliance’s biggest wargame since the Cold War.
British and US troops were supported by two Apache AH-64E choppers, making their debut in a NATO exercise, and even patrol dogs got in on the act.
Explosions rang out as troops simulated a battlefield scenario less than three hours from the Russian border in Nurmsi, central Estonia.
More than two years on from the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the wargame took place under Exercise Swift Response.
More than 2,300 soldiers, sailors and aviators are being led by Britain’s 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team. It is part of the months-long Exercise Steadfast Defender 24 involving 90,000 personnel which aims to test NATO’s “ability to defend against a near-peer adversary”.
Asked how urgent the threat of Russia is to Estonian territory, Brigadier Giles Harris – Commander Operation CABRIT, the UK’s deployment to the Baltic country – called it “very urgent”.
He added: “I’m not going to second guess what may or may not happen but our job is to be ready.
“And I think what’s playing out in Ukraine to the south provides us with the lessons we need to learn.”
It comes after Russia warned that Ukrainian strikes using UK-supplied weapons could prompt retaliation on British military facilities.
This week the UK announced it was expelling Russia’s defence attache, an “undeclared military intelligence officer”. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has said: “NATO is seriously preparing for a ‘potential conflict’ with us.”