NordenBladet —

Nearly 2000 UK, French and Estonian soldiers were conducting field training exercise Bold Panzer on the Central Training Area near Tapa this week. The purpose of the exercise was to complete the process of integrating the new UK-led NATO battlegroup into the 1st Estonian Brigade, thereby creating a cohesive battleforce.

“The integration into the 1st Infantry Brigade is of course our primary goal, so the process really began as soon as we arrived in Tapa and completed our takeover,” says Lieutenant Colonel Simon Worth, Commander of the UK Army´s Royal Tank Regiment, which deployed to Estonia last month, and now leads the NATO Battlegroup. “Leading up to our arrival, the Regiment completed six weeks of intensive training in Germany. This week we have been building on that training and adapting to the demands of the Estonian terrain. The training has certainly paid off. We´re now well underway to being fully integrated into the Estonian 1st Brigade, and will stand ready with our French collegues to contribute to the collective defense of Estonia.”

Exercise Bold Panzer began last week and ended today. Using predetermined areas and battlefield scenarios, the NATO soldiers were conducting operations in the Central Training Area near Tapa, with their colleagues from the EDF´s Scouts Batallion posing as adversaries.

„Allied battlegroup is a part of our territorial defence plan and operates on the same principles as other 1st infantry brigade battalions and companies. Bold Panzer laid a strong foundation for following cooperation and delvelopment,“ said major Dimitri Kondratenko from 1st infantry brigade.
NATO battlegroups in the Baltics are led by the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and the United States. NATO´s enhanced Forward Presence was established in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in 2017.

Photos: https://pildid.mil.ee/index.php?/category/60789

Source: Estonian Defence Forces