Brit troops lead NATO show of force right on the Ukrainian border | World | News
British troops led a show of force close to Romania’s border with Ukraine to show how a new NATO unit can counter threats.
Hundreds of soldiers, fighter jets, attack helicopters and tanks joined the live firing exercise yesterday (WEDS) as part of Steadfast Dart 25 – NATO’s biggest war games this year.
About 200 UK troops spearheaded the Allied Response Force (ARF), the alliance’s new first responders that can be rapidly deployed to deal with threats or crises at short notice.
Senior commanders watched keenly to see how the new unit functioned in a combat scenario.
US Admiral Stuart Munsch, Commander of Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, said: “This exercise, Steadfast Dart, represents the beginning of our new force that will defend every inch of the alliance’s territory.”
During the exercise several Romanian Socat helicopters struck ‘enemy’ positions with 57mm rockets, followed by the host nation’s F-16 fast jets which destroyed further targets.
These US-made multi-role fighters can travel at twice the speed of sound and could be seen banking sharply, deploying flares to trick and confuse enemy heat-seeking missiles.
The Army’s Jackal 2 reconnaissance vehicles were then called in, while 105mm light guns with a range of more than 43 miles were fired by British and Spanish artillery, smashing targets at the far end of the range and causing smoke to fill the sky.
British, Spanish and French infantry travelled in Foxhound vehicles before disembarking and storming an enemy trench – a crucial part of the training in eastern Romania using lessons learned from the war in Ukraine.
While overhead a reconnaissance drone provided a live feed of the troops’ progress as they navigated the muddy and disorientating trenches.
Four Romanian TR-85-800 tanks then rolled into action, rapidly moving into position to provide support to the troops in the trenches.
They opened fire, first a bright flash from the 100mm calibre main gun followed by a booming thud which made it feel like the ground was moving beneath your feet.
Speaking after the demonstration at the Smardan training area, Admiral Munsch said NATO was facing a “complex security environment” following “Russia’s unprovoked invasion and continued war in Ukraine”.
His comments contradicted those of US President Donald Trump, who a day earlier had appeared to accuse Ukraine of being responsible for the war with Russia.
When this was pointed out to the commander he reiterated that NATO’s position was Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago was unprovoked.
Exercise Steadfast Dart was the first deployment of the ARF and has been spearheaded by almost 3,000 British soldiers, alongside personnel from seven other nations.
Lance Corporal Kieran Heckford, 22, from 32 Engineer Regiment, said he feels “100%” ready to respond to a real-life crisis and the training had made it feel like “second nature”.
Private Aliesha Wharton, a 21-year-old medic from Cornwall, in her first deployment with 3 Medical Regiment, added: “I’ve learned how the allied forces work together and how we can come together as one.
“It’s been quite eye-opening. I’ve learned a lot about my own job role and how that works in a different country.”
Captain Dinysios Vassos, 32, from the Greek armed forces, said: “If you have seen this exercise, you will have seen that we are prepared for everything and I don’t think it would have any issue with anyone.”
The war games took place in freezing temperatures less than 20 miles from the Ukrainian border in eastern Romania.
