UK troops head to Russia’s doorstep: NATO war games ramp up amid rising tensions in Estonia and Latvia
Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland are preparing to deploy to the Baltic states for Exercise Spring Storm, one of the largest multinational military drills NATO will conduct this year. Before flying out the troops spent weeks completing a demanding preparatory exercise called Black Cyclone across the north of England building the physical and tactical readiness they will need once they reach Estonia.The Spring Storm exercise runs from May 4 to June 1 and involves more than 12,000 soldiers from Estonia, France, Latvia and the United Kingdom. It takes place in Estonian and Latvian territory close to the Russian border. The UK’s 4th Brigade will integrate with the Estonian Division during the exercise, practising the kind of cross-border military co-operation that NATO considers central to its defensive posture in the region. Estonia’s defence ministry has said the exercise will incorporate lessons drawn directly from Russia’s war against Ukraine, including updated tactics and the expanded use of drone systems. Attack aircraft, fighter jets and unmanned aerial vehicles will all feature in the drills, Sky News reports.
The preparatory training in England pushed soldiers through live firing ranges, urban combat drills and helicopter exercises using Chinook aircraft. Lieutenant Damian Light of 2 Scots said the training had been designed to give soldiers a strong foundation for what would be a more demanding challenge than anything the regiment had previously faced in Estonia. He said the scale would be greater, the conditions tougher and the expectations higher than on any previous deployment to the region.One of the soldiers heading to Estonia is 18-year-old Fusilier Evan Slater from North Lanarkshire who only joined the regiment in January this year. This will be his first overseas exercise. He told Sky News the training had been hard, fast and aggressive but that he had learned new skills constantly rather than repeating the same drills. He said his favourite part was the urban combat training where he got to be the point man going through doors first. Regarding the freezing conditions in Kielder Forest in Northumberland he said being from Scotland meant the cold was something he was fairly used to.Exercise Spring Storm is not taking place in isolation. It sits within a broader pattern of NATO activity as the alliance strengthens its eastern flank in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine. More than 1,400 British troops recently crossed to Europe by civilian ferry to participate in a separate exercise in Germany testing the UK’s ability to use civilian transport infrastructure in the event that NATO’s Article Five collective defence clause is triggered.