On Wednesday, May 8, four Estonian Navy warships participating in the Spring Storm exercise conducted combined live-fire gunnery drills targeting surface targets near Osmussaar Island.
“It’s rare for multiple navy ships to train together, because their day-to-day operational tasks are generally spread across different areas of Estonia. However, today’s exercise is a great example of how our ships can significantly strengthen their cooperation during these drills,” said Commander Tarmo Sepp, the commander of the naval units participating in Spring Storm.
During the firing drills, a training combat alert situation was declared internally on the ships, raising readiness to defend against attacks. This allowed the ships to not only practice shooting, but also other force protection measures such as responding to attacks and preparing for the evacuation of the wounded. While conducting the exercises, all ships adopted a joint combat formation, which required the crews to coordinate communications and manoeuvers.
For this year’s Spring Storm, a naval task group has been formed consisting of the mine layer ENS Wambola, the minehunter ENS Admiral Cowan, and the patrol boats ENS Kindral Kurvits and ENS Raju. The Mine Warfare Squadron and Coastal Defence Squadron are also participating in the exercise from the Navy’s ground units.
During Spring Storm, naval units practice mining maritime areas, force protection for ships and ground units, maritime surveillance, and surface warfare procedures.
Estonian Navy’s vessels participating in Spring Storm can be visited free of charge at Heltermaa Harbour in Hiiumaa on May 10th from 12:00 to 16:00, and on May 11th from 10:00 to 14:00.
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 is the largest NATO exercise in decades, with nearly 90,000 participants from all 32 member states participating 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.
