The UK are to send more than 50 tanks to take part in NATO’s largest military exercise since the Cold War.
NATO’s military exercise, Steadfast Defender 2024 will see more than 90,000 troops from 31 allied nations will take part as there have been many warnings over the past weeks of an all-out war with Russia.
The British Army has deployed 1,500 troops, 600 vehicles which are heading for Poland and will participate in the largest NATO exercise in “over 40 years.”
Steadfast Defender is the large-scale demonstration of NATO’s forces and is to demonstrate the alliance’s capability and to prepare and train for war with Russia.
The UK are to send more than 50 Challenger 2 main battle tanks (MBTs) to Eastern Europe as British and NATO military chiefs have been warning of a full-scale war with Russia.
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The UK will pull 12 MBTs out of storage in Germany which will also form part of the NATO exercise that started at the end of last month.
Sky News reported that Major Simon Robertson, 44, the second in command of 17 Port and Maritime Regiment, Royal Logistic Corp, warned that the UK needs to be “ready for anything.”
He added, “This exercise, along with all the others, is just a way of us training and practising and strengthening those bonds and understanding… that we have with our NATO allies.”
Moscow has warned NATO against the planned military exercises in Europe which is planned for several months.
Moscow has said that NATO’s planned military exercises close to Russia’s borders is “openly provocative” that could result in the most severest consequences for Europe.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned on Friday that NATO’s Steadfast Defender 2024 are “openly provocative in nature.”
She said, “For several months, a 90,000-strong group of forces from 31 NATO member countries, as well as Sweden, will be actively operating near Russian borders on the territory from Norway to Romania.
“This step is deliberately aimed at escalating things. It increases the risk of military incidents and could ultimately lead to tragic consequences for Europe.”
As a result Vladimir Putin is preparing to “double” the number of troops on the NATO border which could signal a potential conflict with the alliance, according to Estonia’s foreign intelligence.
The threat of a worldwide conflict seems to be edging closer weekly as Putin is doubling the number of troops on the border with the Baltic states and Finland.
Kaupo Rosin, director-general of the Estonian service, said at the moment Moscow is not “willing to conduct any military actions towards NATO.”
Rosin said, “Russians are planning to increase their military force along the Baltic states’ border but also the Finnish border.
“We will highly likely see an increase of manpower, about doubling perhaps. We will see an increase in armed personnel carriers, tanks, artillery systems over the coming years.”
According to the Estonian intelligence report Putin putting more troops on Finland’s border could consist of “two or three manoeuvre units with around a dozen fire support and combat support units.”
