Filenews 10 June 2022
About 3,000 soldiers from 17 NATO member countries are being deployed in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as part of the Alliance's "Ramstein Legacy" exercise, the largest ever, the Times wrote, amid fears that Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine could extend to other territories.
Drills primarily include testing of air defence systems, missile defences and electronic warfare. A total of 50 aircraft have reached the fields of exercises from bases throughout Europe, while the air and missile defence systems tested amount to 17, in a concentration of forces that according to the British newspaper is also a show of force.
Britain's participation consists of 100 soldiers of the 7th Air Defence Team from Amari Air Base in Estonia and Ustka, Poland, who operate Stormer vehicles armed with Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles, which are divided into three "arrows" that can hit multiple targets.
Allied Air Command commander General Geoffrey Harringian noted: "Given the current security situation following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, large-scale training exercises like this are more important than ever for NATO."
The exercise will enhance the North Atlantic bloc's ability to defend the territory of its member countries, he added.
As allied aircraft – who pretended to be hostile – flew over Poland and the Baltic States, North Atlantic Treaty defence ministers gathered in Iceland for talks on ongoing hostilities.
At this meeting of NATO's "northern group", an informal platform for cooperation between 12 Alliance member states, in Reykjavik, Iceland's Foreign Minister Thordis Guilfadotir said it was necessary to prepare for the "worst-case scenario" as far as Russia is concerned. "The threat of a direct military attack against a NATO country can no longer be ruled out," he argued.
Source: in.gr
