British and American tanks train together in Estonia

British Challenger 2 tanks have trained alongside U.S. Army armoured forces during Exercise Winter Camp in Estonia, as NATO’s multinational battlegroup tested its ability to operate in extreme cold-weather conditions.

The exercise took place near Tapa and involved troops from NATO’s battlegroup in Estonia, which is led by the British Army and has maintained a continuous armoured and mechanised presence in the country for nearly nine years. Training saw forces deploy from barracks into snow and sub-zero field conditions to test tactics, equipment and sustainment in winter environments.

Imagery released from the exercise showed U.S. Army soldiers assigned to 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division operating alongside a British Challenger 2 main battle tank. According to the U.S. Army, the training also included cooperation with French forces as part of efforts to improve multinational coordination.

Lt Colonel Mark Lucan, Commanding Officer of Forward Land Forces Battlegroup Estonia from the Royal Tank Regiment, said British troops had learned a range of practical cold-weather techniques from their Estonian partners, from personal survival measures to vehicle preparation.

He said: “What we’ve learnt from the Estonians are everything from the simplest things about how to re-warm yourself when it gets really cold in these conditions. Simple exercises. How to dress appropriately, what layers to wear. Through to how we equip our tanks, and what we do with our fuel to make sure that it doesn’t freeze, doesn’t turn to jelly, and the kinds of alterations we can make to our vehicles to make sure it gains traction in the ice and snow and continue to fight through.”

Lucan said the exercise reflected the integrated nature of NATO forces currently deployed in Estonia.

“And the reality of the forces who are on this training here at the moment – you have the British forces, the French company as part of the battlegroup, our Estonian partners as part of the exercise as well as the Americans who are co-located here in Estonia,” he said. “We are all learning and operating together to make sure that we are learning lessons from each other and are able to assist each other when we can do.”

He added that the exercise mirrored NATO’s wider posture along its eastern flank.

“And all of that is just replication of what is happening across the eastern front under different NATO framework nations and so all together once you combine it together, that is a hugely powerful message to the aggressor, to make sure that we are ready to go at any stage, doesn’t matter where that happens to happen,” Lucan said.

Exercise Winter Camp is intended to strengthen NATO’s cold-weather readiness and interoperability in support of collective defence, with the presence of U.S. V Corps described as reinforcing American commitment to Estonia and other allied nations in the region.