The two-week Pikne (Lightning) exercise involving NATO troops is starting in Estonia.
The exercises include the arrival of ships from Estonia’s allies and active air operations. The main activities will take place in the northern and northeastern parts of the country from December 2 to 15.
“The exercise is designed to practice the rapid deployment of French, British and Estonian forces and to strengthen cooperation between them. Units of the French Armed Forces will conduct land and air operations to deploy forces to Estonia, after which they will practice performing assigned tasks together with British and Estonian units,” said Major General Indrek Sirel, the division commander and the person in charge of the exercise.
As part of the exercise, NATO units will practice mechanisms for the transfer of forces to the conflict zone. Particular attention will be paid to integration into the allied battle group in Estonia to counter threats from the air, land and sea.
According to official press release, UK Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, 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.
The maneuvers will involve about 2,000 soldiers from Estonia, Latvia , the United States , France and the United Kingdom . Land, air and naval units of the Estonian Defense Forces are involved, as well as the NATO battle group in the country and other units deployed for the duration of the exercises.
