A Chinook helicopter dropped British troops on Saaremaa, the largest and most populous island in Estonia.
16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team is the British Army’s Global Response Force, held at very high readiness to respond to crises worldwide, it is currently in Estonia training to help Estonian forces defend Estonia.
It is specially trained and equipped to be deployed by parachute, helicopter, and air landing.
Spring Storm on the Islands. A helicopter assault from the 🇬🇧 @16AirAssltBCT landed on Saaremaa, aiming to create conditions for the arrival of additional forces. Local 🇪🇪 Kaitseliit Unit is practicing defending their homeland alongside the Estonian @Kaitsevagi and Allied units. pic.twitter.com/kweCiqkt4q
— Estonian Defence Forces | Eesti Kaitsevägi (@Kaitsevagi) May 15, 2024
16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team was formed on 1 September 1999 from two existing formations, 5 Airborne Brigade and 24 Airmobile Brigade.
Its emblem is drawn from Greek mythology and depicts the warrior Bellerophon astride the winged horse Pegasus, with a soldier being delivered to battle by air as the BCT’s defining role.
Its soldiers wear the maroon beret, a colour adopted when British airborne forces were formed in the Second World War that has become an international symbol of airborne forces.
‘A Chinook’ – not much of an assault?? When I was in RAFG, RAF Laarbruch got attacked by over 50 helos – now that is an assault!
Yep back in the day we had numbers Bill , no longer sadly 😟
😀
Photo a few weeks ago at Wattisham showed around 20 helicopters mustering to deploy. A mix of Apache, and Chinook.
So there will be more, even if not at this exercise.
I agree with Andrew that we no longer have the resources of the 80s, but we do have enough helos in the RAF, Navy and Army, to actually carry out a more realistic (pertinent in these times of tension) airborne assault. Your post confirms this, thank you.
With 8 C17, 22 Atlas, 51 Chinooks, 50 Apache, and the Wildcats, Puma, Merlin, we actually have the components for a decent mobility force. As long as they don’t go and cut it more than they have already with the Hercules.
We should play to our strengths.
Agree..
Forces News released a video last month showing the full helicopter group departing the UK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvcWQrWnhyM Cheers
3 Chinooks in total deployed. Given we have 51 as you stated below I wonder why they don’t send half a dozen or so, What else are they doing except sat at Odiham doing nothing
Well there are 3 Sqns, 7, 28, and 27, plus the OCU.
7 Sqn, which is the outfit supporting DSF, will have its Helis deployed with them, be it in ops or exercises.
Several will be in depth or line maintenance, some will be with the OCU, some on other exercises apart from this one.
I live close to Odiham, I hear Chinooks flying overhead most nights. They’re not idle.
There’s also the question of exactly how many troops are being deployed? I mean the article is so low on detail it’s really hard to draw conclusions. If it’s just a coy group exercising, or even a battalion, and the insertion is by parachute, air landing, AND Chinook, maybe only a multiple is available to be inserted in the first place?
Yes. Re the entire thing, the only firm figure I have in mind is “20,000” which will include all three services not just “troops” as the DS first stated last year. 12, or was it 20, deployed 2,500 of those.
16 AA also did the para insertion the other week. Not seen it myself but assume air landing too, so I don’t imagine any more than the lead Battalion with added CS CSS elements, at the most. And it may well be less.
Certainly less here as you suggest.
Yeah, I mean, certain units managed to beg/borrow/steal a Chinook for In Transit Care training for their medics a few years ago, so I’m sure 16AA can manage more than one if they want to.
I was thinking that too. So tragic that an assault in just one Chinook is even any sort of news.
However, as Daniele says other exercises this year use more helo resources.
Slightly off topic, but prompted by the picture…
What is happening with the SA80A3 upgrade? The only info I can seem to find online is that 5,000 rifles were to be upgraded in an initial batch, with more potentially to follow. Have there been any further batches?
Hopefully the SA80 is finally on its way out, you can only polish a turd so much, more of our marines & soldiers are being equipped with US type AR Rifles, the latest being the Knights Stoner 1 ( L403A1) the sooner the carbuncle L85 is consigned to the history books the better.