By Rick ROZOFF
The
Defender Europe 2021 exercises include estimates of as many as 37,000 troops from at least 27 NATO member and partner states and appear to be based entirely in Eastern Europe, from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans and the Black Sea. Comprehensive figures are not verifiable, but there is every reason to believe this is the largest U.S.-NATO military exercise since the Cod War; and moreover one occurring as Russia and Ukraine, steadfastly backed by the U.S. and NATO, are at loggerheads over renewed fighting in the Donbass region of what was formerly Eastern Ukraine.
NATO’s Allied Command Operations website reports today that the military alliance completed the eight-day Crystal Arrow 2021 exercise which was run by U.S. Army forces in conjunction with two NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battle Groups, from Latvia and Lithuania. (The other two NATO Battle Groups are in Estonia and Poland.)
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Photo: Naval vessels from Estonia and several other countries, involved in the two-week Operation Open Spirit 2021 mine-clearing endeavor. Author: Maria Tõkke, Jarkko Martin Pukki, Kaimar Tauri Tamm
An international mine-clearing operation in Estonian waters ended Thursday. Over 120 pieces of ordnance, the bulk of them dating from World War Two, were discovered and disposed of during that time. Various shipwrecks were also discovered during the exercise.
Of the 127 pieces of ordnance found during the exercise, dubbed Operation Open Spirit 2021, 93 were German World War Two-era sea mines, while seven unexploded torpedoes from the same war, and other ordnance, were located.
Estonia: Intl MCM operation Open Spirit 2021 starts Monday 2021-04-19 BNS/TBT Staff
TALLINN - 11 states and 21 vessels with diving squads are participating in the Open Spirit 2021 international mine countermeasures operation launched in Estonian waters on Monday.
The main area of operation in this year s MCM mission is the Gulf of Finland and its southeastern part Narva Bay, military spokespeople said. Groups of mine clearance vessels are to find, map out and, if possible, disarm any ordnance found in the area.
Altogether 11 states, including the United States, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Sweden, Germany and Romania, are participating in the mine clearance operation to be held from April 19 to 29 with 21 diving teams and altogether almost 800 naval personnel. Alto taking part in the operation are the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (?SNMCMG1) and the Baltic Naval Squadron.
0 >Nicely camouflaged Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank during Exercise Furious Axe in Latvia. Source: NATO eFP Estonia
The British Army s 5th Battalion, the Rifles ( RIFLES) may have already finished its recent rotation with the Tapa-based NATO Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) – the battalion s second stint in Estonia in fact – but a recent edition of NATO s Multinational Corps Northeast magazine, Baltic Amber , got the low-down on progress while the unit was still in Estonia, including from its commanding officer, Lt Col. Jim Hadfield.
Lt Col. Hadfield told the magazine that: Given our role, which is to contribute to the collective defense of Estonia, our first and primary task was of course to begin the process of integration with the 1st Brigade of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF), as well as with the Danish Vidar Company, which arrived here earlier this year (2020-ed.) and forms the other part of the NATO Battle Group here in Estonia.
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