Britain is sending 20,000 troops across Europe to join NATO's Arctic exercise, marking the largest deployment since the end of the Cold War.
The global military alliance's exercise is scheduled for the first half of the year and Britain will also be sending warships and fighter jets. The entirety of the deployment includes 16,000 British army troops, who will be based in Eastern Europe from February to June, an aircraft carrier strike group, and F35B Lightning attack jets as well as surveillance planes.
The latest exercise is known as NATO's Exercise Steadfast Defender 24 and marks the military alliance's 75th year. British Defense Secretary Grant Shapp was the one who announced the deployment of troops on Monday at Lancaster House.
The NATO military alliance has boosted the number of combat-ready troops after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine nearly two years ago. It has also continued to express its support for Kyiv with military, economic, and humanitarian aid, as per Reuters.
Speaking about the exercise, Shapps said that Britain's military will join forces with counterparts from 30 NATO countries plus Sweden to provide vital reassurance against the "Putin menace." Last week, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that his country will increase its support for Ukraine in the next financial year, bringing total aid to $3.19 billion.
The exercise will have British forces practicing with NATO partners how to defend against Russian aggression amid escalating concerns that another big war in Europe could break out. The planned deployment also comes in the wake of UK air strikes on Houthi fighters in Yemen who were responsible for attacking Red Sea shipping vessels.
It also seeks to show off NATO's capabilities to Russia's allies, including China and Iran, the latter of which supports the Houthis. During Shapps' remarks, he said that we have entered a new era where they must be prepared to deter enemies, lead allies, and defend the nation.
Message Against Vladimir Putin's Aggression
The development now makes a total of 31 members of NATO joining the exercise and comes after Russia's neighbor, Finland, joined in April. While Sweden is not officially a member of the military alliance, it will also be joining the exercise, according to Mirror.
European and Norwegian neighbors have raised concerns about Putin's Arctic rearmament against the backdrop of Moscow's war on Ukraine. Prior to the Russian strongman's invasion of Kyiv, NATO membership was not on the agenda neither in Helsinki or Stockholm.
A core element of the Nordic Response, previously known as Cold Response, is to train cross-border defense and movement of military hardware between the northernmost parts of Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
Air forces will also be active with roughly 100 aircraft. On the other hand, the coast of northern Norway will have more than 50 submarines, frigates, corvettes, aircraft carriers, and various amphibious vessels.
Unlike NATO's previous exercises in northern Norway, core areas of operations this time around have been moved north to the Alta, Lakselv area. This corresponds with sailing by warships off the coast of Finnmark, said The Barents Observer.
