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UK troops arrive in Estonia for major NATO deployment

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  • UK troops arrive in Estonia for major NATO deployment

    Around 120 UK troops have arrived in Estonia as part of one of the biggest British deployments to Eastern Europe in decades.

    Soldiers from the 5th Battalion The Rifles Battlegroup (5 RIFLES), including members of an Armoured Engineer Squadron, Military Police Detachment, Artillery Group and Port Task Group, arrived at Amari airbase last night.
    They were welcomed by Estonia’s Defence Minister Margus Tsahkna, having flown from RAF Brize Norton by Voyager aircraft.
    The 120 soldiers are fundamental to setting up a UK headquarters in the country before the rest of the UK deployment arrives next month, increasing the total number of troops in Estonia to around 800.
    The UK is taking a leading role in NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence, alongside several other contributing nations. The deployments are designed to assure NATO allies of the mutual commitment to collective European security.
    Working alongside the UK forces this year will be French personnel, and from next year, Danish partners. All are there at the request of the Estonian Government. The Battlegroup will provide a proportionate, defensive, and combat capable force to defend our NATO ally and deter any form of hostile activity against the Alliance.

    The UK-led Estonia Battlegroup is one of four NATO multinational deployments to the eastern part of the Alliance. Other nations are deploying to Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, the last of which will include 150 UK personnel, on a persistent, rotational basis.
    Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:
    In the face of an increasingly assertive Russia, NATO is stepping up its commitment to collective defence. British troops will play a leading role in Estonia and support our US allies in Poland, as part of wider efforts to defend NATO.
    Our rising defence budget means we can support those deployments in the long-term and strengthen our commitment to European security.
    Commanding Officer of 5 Rifles Lieutenant Colonel Mark Wilson added:
    The UK and Estonia have a long and proud history of serving together, including in Afghanistan, so it is an honour to lead 5 RIFLES on this deployment as part of NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence. My soldiers are looking forward to again be working, training and exercising alongside their Estonian counterparts.
    This week, around 300 UK vehicles have also departed to Estonia, including Warrior infantry fighting vehicles, Challenger 2 tanks and AS90 self-propelled artillery pieces. These vehicles, loaded onto a Roll-On-Roll-Off ferry, are currently on their way and set to arrive towards the middle of next week. French armoured vehicles, including tanks, are also due to arrive in Estonia via train after being loaded yesterday.

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  • #2
    Over here we don't consider EFP a "deployment" - we consider it a "deployment-equivalent training exercise".

    Well, at least we even admit we have troops there. The Netherlands do not acknowledge any ground troops - or plans for them - in Lithuania, and they manage to keep them out of the news too - and they're supposed to deploy within the next ten days. The last time the Dutch MoD released anything to the public on that deployment was last October - not mentioning how many or what kind of troops at all. Meanwhile their smaller neighbor even publishes video of the transfer of their 77 soldiers using a German A400M (Belgium fields the logistics company for the German-led batallion). Norway will arrive in May btw.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by kato View Post
      Over here we don't consider EFP a "deployment" - we consider it a "deployment-equivalent training exercise".
      Sounds like political language...It's permanent so the language should probably say 'stationed'

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      • #4
        Yep, it's political language - for a formal deployment they'd need parliamentary approval, plain and simple.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by kato View Post
          of the transfer of their 77 soldiers using a German A400M (Belgium fields the logistics company for the German-led batallion). Norway will arrive in May btw.
          This level of co-operation between European armies within NATO with the added dimension of N. America...Makes an EU army look unnecessary to me, it can only be for political reasons.
          I've not seen any movement by the Russians to counter this 'deployment' are you aware of any?

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Toby View Post
            This level of co-operation between European armies within NATO with the added dimension of N. America...
            Should I point out that the airlift of those Belgian troops by German aircraft is done through EATC, the European Union's Air Transport Command that operates all continental A400M aircraft among others? The Norwegian troops will be moved using the joint EU-NATO Movement Coordination Centre Europe (MCCE) most likely, given there will also be sealift involved. 10 bucks on one of the German-Danish ARK project ROROs shipping them over.

            NATO's own Allied Movement Coordination Centre (AMCC) is pretty much without a job regarding European armies...

            Originally posted by Toby View Post
            I've not seen any movement by the Russians to counter this 'deployment' are you aware of any?
            Zapad 2017 will probably be structured around "countering" it, perhaps by including mass airstrikes against armored formations in the exercises or something similar.
            Last edited by kato; 19 Mar 17,, 20:09.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by kato View Post
              NATO's own Allied Movement Coordination Centre (AMCC) is pretty much without a job regarding European armies...
              I was just questioning why the EU would duplicate it...makes no sense to me.

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              • #8
                AMCC is merely an adjunct of SHAPE with coordination function, with comparable operations to EATC instead handled by non-NATO multilateral cooperations, i.e. SALIS and SAC HAW.
                EATC by comparison actually manages operations for a fleet of 200+ transport aircraft.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by kato View Post
                  AMCC is merely an adjunct of SHAPE with coordination function, with comparable operations to EATC instead handled by non-NATO multilateral cooperations, i.e. SALIS and SAC HAW.
                  EATC by comparison actually manages operations for a fleet of 200+ transport aircraft.
                  What happened to keeping it simple, Way too many abbreviations for my liking..lol
                  Just found this, the majority seem to fall within the MCCE...very confusing!
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                  • #10
                    It's intentionally made confusing by combining entirely different structures.

                    The EAG founded both EATC and MCCE, so that's somewhat quirky too.
                    FINABEL and OCCAR are independent former WEU-affiliated organizations, with FINABEL openly aiming to become congruent with CSDP.
                    EGF is technically a subset of CSDP.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by kato View Post
                      It's intentionally made confusing by combining entirely different structures.

                      The EAG founded both EATC and MCCE, so that's somewhat quirky too.
                      FINABEL and OCCAR are independent former WEU-affiliated organizations, with FINABEL openly aiming to become congruent with CSDP.
                      EGF is technically a subset of CSDP.
                      No logistics......no movement!

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Toby View Post
                        No logistics......no movement!
                        Forget moving, no toilets.
                        No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

                        To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Doktor View Post
                          Forget moving, no toilets.
                          A good Curry does the trick...

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