Over 3,000 British Army troops have shown their support for a NATO ally on the border of Russia as a major multinational exercise ends.
Exercise Hedgehog has seen 17,000 troops from 12 NATO allies and partner nations, help assess the combat readiness of the Estonian armed forces.
As well as testing the ability of the Estonian Defence Forces and Estonian Defence League units to respond to potential attack by Russia, the exercise has practiced the rapid and large-scale deployment of allied forces to Estonia.
Led by the British Armys 4th Light Brigade Combat Team, The Black Rats, thousands of troops travelled from the UK to Estonia by road, rail, sea and air in less than 48 hours. The mass transit of troops demonstrated the British Armys ability to rapidly deploy a large-scale force to support a NATO ally that borders Russia.
Exercise Hedgehog 25 is the first time the UKs 4th Light Brigade, which is assigned to Estonia under NATO, fully integrated into the Estonian division. The brigade is kept at high readiness in the UK to reinforce Estonia in the event of crisis and conflict.
The main combat activities of the exercise took place in northeastern Estonia at a training area close to the Tapa military camp and in southeast Estonia at the Nursipalu training area.
The 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancasters Regiment (1 LANCS) and the 2nd Battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland (2 SCOTS) formed Battlegroups in the Nursipalu training area where they carried out urban and woodland combat training.
British troops built trenches in the Estonian forest, along the same lines as those dug by soldiers in Ukraine to defend against Russias invasion. Attacking forces from other NATO allies assaulted the trench positions using drones with simulated pyrotechnic munitions, blank ammunition fired by machine guns and simulation grenades.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Carman, Commanding Officer, 1 LANCS, said:
The 1 LANCS Battlegroup is a key part of 4th Light Brigades Forward Land Forces. We have deployed on Exercise Hedgehog as a mission rehearsal, showcasing our ability to rapidly commit forces to the region, and demonstrating NATOs readiness to respond against threats to member states.”
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