UK Forces to participate at the Iron Sword 2014 military exercise in Lithuania
On November 2 through 14 large-scale multinational exercise Iron Sword 2014 will be held in Lithuania for the first time.
The exercise will take place in two largest Lithuania’s training ranges and involve over 2.5 thousand military personnel from 9 NATO member states: the Czech Republic, Estonia, U.S.A., UK, Canada, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary and Germany.
“A number of measures are being considered in the Alliance after the NATO Summit in Wales, a part of them is related to strengthening security in Eastern Europe, i.e. increased NATO presence and increased number of combined exercises in our region, and establishment of command and control elements. The multinational Exercise Iron Sword 2014 which will soon begin in Lithuania is an excellent example of talks and plans being translated into concrete actions. This exercise will increase the ability to act in the territory of the country both - alone and jointly with our allies, and will become a priceless professional experience for our military personnel,” Chief of Defence of Lithuania Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas.
It is noteworthy that soldiers from Luxembourg, Hungary and Germany have never been deployed to international exercises in Lithuania before.
“It is absolutely important for me as the Chief of Defence of Lithuania that even eight NATO allies have expressed a resolve to participate in this exercise. That demonstrates an increasingly growing and unanimous understanding among NATO states of the geopolitical change that has taken place and of our concerns about the security situation in the region. I would like to highlight that the Armed Forces of Luxembourg will be training in Exercise Iron Sword 2014 for the first time in its history away from their home country,” the Chief of Defence underscored.
Exercise Iron Sword 2014 is part of the NATO Military Training and Exercise Program (MTEP). It will aim at training interoperability in NATO units, coordination of actions, and readiness to carry out defensive, offensive and stabilisation operations. Some of the units of the Lithuanian Armed Forces will also undergo certification for standby for the NATO Response Force (NRF) in 2015 and 2016.
