During this week’s Swift Response segment of the Spring Storm exercise, British airborne forces are practicing rapid enhancement of Estonia’s defence capabilities with additional allied forces.
On May 10th and 11th, allied units were deployed at Nurmsi Airfield under simulated combat conditions. “I commanded an exercise, in which my soldiers deployed at great pace from United Kingdom to support our Estonian partners,” said Brigadier General Mark Berry, Commander of the UK 16th Air Assault Brigade Combat Team. “If we deploy by air, it will take a matter of hours to reach here from the United Kingdom. We are a contingency response force, so we deploy very rapidly anywhere in the world, as part of what the United Kingdom call a global response force.”
The Swift Response exercise, which is part of Spring Storm, has brought allies to Central and Western Estonia in cooperation with forces from Estonia, the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Poland.
“What we are practicing is how our allies, for instance from the UK, would come to our aid in times of threat. It’s a large-scale operation involving hundreds and thousands of people, and tons of equipment from hundreds of kilometres away,” said General Martin Herem, Chief of the Estonian Defence Forces. He emphasized the importance of practicing communications, which always presents challenges.
The success of the Swift Response exercise has also been supported by the Estonian Defence League and servicemen from various units across Estonia. Fighters from the Järva unit secured Nurmsi Airfield, assisting with the allies’ landing operations and protecting the operational area. Additionally, from May 11th to 12th, further air-delivered combat supplies will be brought to Estonia. Among the equipment arriving is the United Kingdom’s 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery’s Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), capable of striking targets up to 84 kilometres away, which will support the training combat manoeuvres of Spring Storm.
The Swift Response exercise is linked to NATO’s largest exercise to date, Steadfast Defender, which involves over 90,000 allies. Swift Response is an annual international exercise led by the U.S. Army Europe and Africa Command, with main activities occurring from the Baltic States to the Balkans. The purpose of the exercise is to practice interoperability of allied forces, to be ready to respond quickly and effectively to various crises when needed.
Spring Storm 2024 is part of the NATO exercise series Steadfast Defender 2024, representing a significant component of this extensive NATO exercise. Steadfast Defender 2024, the largest NATO exercise in decades, will see participation from all 32 member states over a six-month period from January to July 2024. The broader framework for the exercise has been set by confirmed NATO regional defence plans.
