Yesterday at 22:36
In the United States, military exercises were held simulating a Russian invasion of Europe, using the example of the war unleashed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. According to The Times newspaper, the training takes place specifically in the open desert, which is similar to the Ukrainian steppes. And 4.5 thousand military personnel from the USA, Great Britain, and Australia took part, FREEDOM reports.
The British Army has sent a new elite regiment of rangers and a platoon of drone operators to the Mojave Desert in California to participate in US military exercises. Together with the military of the United States and Australia, they are practicing new tactics adopted from the experience of the Ukrainian military.
“In the first half of the Convergence project, there was a conflict on an island in the Pacific Ocean. The second stage imitated the war in Europe. Both events take place against the backdrop of growing tensions in US relations with China and Russia,” from an article in The Moscow Times
British government spokesman Alex Chalk said the full-scale war in Ukraine has shown certain changes in warfare practices, including the widespread use of drones for both intelligence gathering, command decision-making, and strikes. Because of this, Western armies need to quickly adapt to new realities.
“We have seen here how one person controls more than 30 drones. These are not just unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for reconnaissance. They can also strike on the battlefield. With so much data collected by drones, a huge amount of information needs to be filtered and analyzed. There is no problem with the amount of data. There is a problem with how to process them,” Chok said.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, similar exercises were held from 4 to 9 November 2022 in Poland. About 2,000 servicemen from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, as well as Great Britain and the USA took part in them. Exercises are held in case of further escalation of the conflict.
“The purpose of the exercises is to increase the interoperability of troops, as well as to test the ability to plan, organize and conduct tactical operations in cooperation with allies. One of the episodes of the exercises includes joint fire of the armored units of Poland, Great Britain, and the Czech Republic with the support of motorized infantry, artillery, and aircraft of the Air Force,” Przemysław Lipchinsky, spokesman for the 18th Mechanized Division of the Polish Army, informed.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said that the country is preparing to deploy a brigade of German troops on its territory by 2026. To do this, Vilnius will build new military barracks and warehouses.
“By 2026, Lithuania will be ready to accept a full brigade with everything that is required for this. This is a very important step for Lithuania and a very significant investment,” said Landsbergis.
In June 2022, Germany announced that it was ready to strengthen its military mission in the territory of NATO ally Lithuania in order to strengthen the defense of the alliance’s eastern borders after Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. But in Lithuania they said that in order to accommodate additional troops, it is necessary to modernize the country’s military infrastructure by hundreds of millions of euros.
In October of this year, Germany opened its permanent command center in Lithuania, which will allow it, if necessary, to transfer a 5,000-strong brigade of troops within 10 days.
“The war between Russia and Ukraine, the recent cyber attacks on strategic parts of our infrastructure — I think this is a wake-up call for all of us. We must strengthen our ability to protect ourselves and also protect our values as they manifest themselves in everyday life,” said European Commission Vice President Margaret Vestager.
Also on November 10, the United States and Japan began joint exercises, which will involve 36 thousand military personnel, 30 ships, and more than 300 aircraft. Australia, Canada, and the UK will take part in the exercise.
In 2023, similar training events will continue in Germany or Poland. For them, the US Army will deploy an entire division to Europe.
