British troops have taken part in a joint “superior-readiness workout” together with Finnish forces, as Finland moves closer to signing up for NATO.
About 150 British Army and Royal Air force personnel joined US and Finnish counterparts in the 4-working day Workout Vigilant Fox, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported.
The joint workout will come following NATO signed an accession protocol with Finland to sign up for the army alliance previously this month, which commenced the ratification method for members.
Finland and Sweden both confirmed their intention to be a part of NATO next Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Previously this month it emerged that the RAF has despatched four Typhoons and two F-35Bs to Finland and Sweden for joint training exercises.
Finland signed a mutual protection assurance declaration with the Uk in May well, and is also a member of the Uk-led Joint Expeditionary Pressure, a coalition of 10 nations.
The MoD reported British troops primarily based in Estonia as part of the British Army’s Undertaking Unified Stance had been flown into Finland in Royal Air Power Chinook helicopters as element of the workout.
Defence minister James Heappey claimed: “Training Vigilant Fox has demonstrated the strength and interoperability of our armed forces with our US and Finnish allies and reaffirms our motivation to the defence and security of the Baltic Sea location.”
Wing Commander Stephen Boyle, the United kingdom defence attaché in Helsinki, said: “Our soldiers, sailors and aviators have obtained a warm welcome in Finland around the final couple of months.
“Workout Vigilant Fox is the hottest activity in an ongoing sequence of activities across the domains. As Finland moves in the direction of whole NATO Membership, we will carry on to search for options like this to display solidarity with Finland, discover from every other and improve our ability to function together.”
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Source: The Sun
