The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 29 April that 8,000 British Army troops will conduct a series of planned exercises across Europe this summer in one of the largest deployments since the Cold War.
In a press release the MoD stated that the exercises will see 72 Challenger 2 tanks, 12 AS90 tracked artillery guns and 120 Warrior armoured fighting vehicles deploy to countries from Finland to North Macedonia, demonstrating the Army’s modernisation into a lethal, agile and global force.
Tens of thousands of troops from NATO and Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) allies and partners are involved in the exercises. The high readiness forces from the Lead Armoured Task Force and Air Manoeuvre Task Force will take part.
Commenting on the deployment UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:
“The security of Europe has never been more important. These exercises will see our troops join forces with allies and partners across NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force in a show of solidarity and strength in one of the largest shared deployments since the Cold War.”
“Operating across Europe, the British Army will stand alongside partners, combining our capabilities and shared values, promoting peace and security.”
This week troops from B Squadron of the Queen’s Royal Hussars have deployed to Finland to take part in Exercise Arrow 22.
They will be embedded into a Finnish Armoured Brigade, with participation from other partners including the US, Latvia and Estonia.
The exercise will improve the ability of UK and Finnish troops to work alongside each other as part of the JEF, deterring Russian aggression in Scandinavia and the Baltic states.
