- Personnel from all three services of the UK Armed Forces are
deployed in Estonia, carrying out exercises and operations as
part of our commitment to NATO.
- More than 1,500 troops have been deployed for Exercise Spring
Storm, demonstrating the reinforcement of the UK-led NATO
enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) Battlegroup to Brigade-sized
strength.
- 14,000 personnel from 11 NATO countries will demonstrate
interoperability in multi-domain training scenarios as part of
the exercise.
More than 1,500 UK troops are set to train alongside thousands of
personnel from NATO Alliance countries, as part of a major
Estonian-led exercise.
Exercise Spring Storm is the largest annual military exercise
involving the UK-led NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup,
comprised of both UK and French forces, with more than 14,000
personnel due to take part from 11 NATO countries.
At last year’s NATO summit, the UK committed to increase the size
of its eFP commitment, with this year’s exercise marking the
first time the UK has conducted a brigade-sized deployment to
Estonia – involving hundreds more personnel than in previous
deployments.
Spread across tough and varied Estonian terrain, ground units
will be tested on realistic battlefield scenarios including
trench assaults, reconnaissance missions, and light infantry
tactics, moving up to armoured vehicle manoeuvres and combined
arms warfare.
Defence Secretary, , said:
Hundreds of UK troops from across our Armed Forces will again
train with personnel from eleven NATO nations, demonstrating the
strength of our interoperability with partner nations and our
combined commitment to the NATO Alliance.
While the Russian Army continues their illegal invasion of
Ukraine threatening stability in Europe, the UK and our allies
will continue to support Ukraine and defend our shared values and
freedom.
Beyond the land-based elements of the two-week exercise, members
of the RAF will carry out training exercises in reconnaissance
and air-land integration, while Royal Marines Commandos will also
carry out a beach assault exercise to test the UK’s maritime
strike capability.
The eFP provides a continuous NATO presence along its eastern
border, with deployed troops acting as a deterrence against any
aggression towards the Alliance’s borders. Recent actions carried
out as part of the UK-led eFP include air intercepts of Russian
aircraft by RAF fighter jets.
Personnel from the British Army’s 7th Light Mechanised Brigade
Combat Team (7LMBCT) HQ and Light Dragoons Battlegroup (LD BG)
join the Queen’s Royal Hussars (QRH) for the exercise, which will
include Challenger 2 tanks, Warrior and CV90 Infantry Fighting
Vehicles, Jackal, CAESAR self-propelled howitzers, and other
artillery pieces, including British GMLRS and US HIMARS.
Supporting air-based exercises will be four Wildcat and five
Apache helicopters, as well as three RAF Typhoon fighter jets.
The Queen’s Royal Hussars Commanding Officer Lt Col Steve
Wilson said:
The eFP is looking forward to the opportunities provided by
Exercise Spring Storm. The chance to train over the terrain we
might need to defend adds to the gravitas of the exercise.
Our Battlegroup is fully integrated with 1st Estonian Brigade and
brings a highly trained and capable UK and French troops to the
field. We will be bringing a wide range of hard-hitting
capabilities from Main Battle Tanks (MBT), anti-tank, and
artillery to snipers, mortars, engineers and tactical air
controllers. We look forward to demonstrating the capabilities
and resolve of the NATO alliance over the coming days.
The exercise is conducted in a peer-on-peer format, allowing the
reconnaissance capabilities of the LD Battlegroup to be tested
against the heavy armour of the QRH Battlegroup, and vice versa.
