Much attention has been focused on Estonia the past few weeks.On 15 April 2019, Great Britain deployed five AH-64 Apache attack helicopters to Tapa in Northeast Estonia,150 kilometers from the Russian border.These are being supported by more than 100 British personnel and Estonian AW159 Wildcat reconnaissance helicopters.Their mission is to bulk up NATO's enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) initiative on the Alliance's Eastern Front.
What is more, the British SAS Special Operations Forces are reportedly posted on the border with Russia to monitor Russian troop movements.*
On 29 April, the annual Spring Storm exercise commenced in the same area,Laane-Vira and Ida Vira counties, according to the Baltic News Service.The drills will run till 20 May.
Participating besides Estonia are the following Allies and partners: Belgium, Canada,Finland, France, Georgia, Germany,Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, the UK and the USA.About 10,000 troops,up from 9,000 last year, will seek to improve synchronisation and other tactical skills during the wargames, focused on bringing the Estonian Defence Forces to peak readiness.
Tanks from France and the UK will join Eurofighter aircraft from Germany and the UK in honing warfighting acumen.The US Air Force is contributing Pavehawk helicopters, while Poland sends Su-22 ground attack jets into the mix.*
British Defence Minister Gavin Williamson explains:
It's a very credible threat that we see from Russia, and part of the reason that we're deploying five Apache attack helicopters is making sure that we're constantly adapting to a changing situation, but this is about deterrence.This is about NATO nations standing together in unity as one, and you see Great Britain playing the largest role in eFP, with the largest number of service personnel deployed.The enhancement of that deployment with the Apache helicopters is really vital and very, very important; and it's been very warmly received by so many nations.*
Adds MAJ David Lambert,CO of 663 Squadron,3 Regiment Army Air Corps:
Actually putting ourselves in a really flat area in close proximity to the Russian border brings some new,complex challenges that we need to look at.
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