They joined NATO just over a year ago, and now they are hosting the Alliance's major maneuvers, which are taking place at a training ground just 100 kilometers from the border with Russia. Soldiers from 28 countries are practicing the defense of NATO's eastern flank – our military, of course, are there too.
This is the largest NATO artillery exercise in history. Tanks, howitzers, rocket launchers, cutting-edge equipment from different countries and checking coordination between soldiers from different countries.
– The operating environment in Finland is completely new for us. We have to acquire new habits here to learn other elements of tactics. But the Finns are masters at this and we learn it from them, says Lt. Col. Pete Winton from the Multinational Field Artillery Brigade.
The Dynamic Front exercise takes place from the Black Sea to the Arctic, i.e. along NATO's eastern flank. In total, there are over five thousand soldiers from 28 countries, including Poland. The host is Finland, the Americans are in command, everyone is practicing.
– The Rapid Reaction Corps cooperates with our colleagues. This means that British radars can operate together with weapons from, for example, France or Sweden – says Brig. Rob Alston of the Rapid Reaction Corps.
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“We just want to show that we have power”
Everything is managed with the support of computers. It is the digital systems that exchange information about the target and select the weapon that will work best in a given situation. Regardless of the flags on soldiers' uniforms.
– If any country wants to attack Finland or attack NATO, we just want to show that we have the power. We have allies, we have friends to continue fighting and survive, emphasizes Lt. Olli Taskinen from the Finnish land forces.
The climate in the Arctic Circle is quite unpleasant. Frost, snow and wind. Although for soldiers from the French 93rd Mountain Artillery Regiment, the weather is not a major problem. – We are used to exercising in winter conditions. So it's like home here, we like training and working in such conditions, says Col. Baudoin Aumonier, the regiment's commander.
Artillery is still the queen of war
As the commander admits, such exercises are a great opportunity to meet soldiers from other countries and exchange experiences.
– It's priceless for us. The most important thing in this exercise is coordination, which we call interoperability, and the first goal of interoperability is to get to know each other, explains Baudoin Aumonier.
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– We have a good mix of different nationalities here. We are all able to communicate and we always easily carry out joint missions – summarizes Col. Alex Forbes, commander of the Multinational Field Artillery Brigade.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine showed that artillery is the queen of war. In fact, with its help, the war is either won or lost. And NATO proves with these exercises that it is fully aware of this.
Main photo source: TVN24