A Royal Air Force A400M Atlas aircraft has transported personnel and equipment to Poznań, Poland, in support of the 2024 Exercise Astral Knight, according to a press release.
Exercise Astral Knight is a multinational Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) exercise focused on enhancing interoperability and theater-wide security capabilities.
This year’s exercise involves 5,000 personnel from six nations, including the UK, US, Lithuania, Greece, Denmark, and Poland, aiming to strengthen links with the Baltic states.
To initiate the exercise, an A400M, operated by LXX Squadron as part of the Air Mobility Force, flew from RAF Brize Norton.
The first stop was Constanta, Romania, where personnel and equipment were collected before being transported to Poznań.
Flight Lieutenant Manson, a captain with LXX Squadron, highlighted the aircraft’s capabilities. “The A400M’s versatility makes it perfect for routes like this. It can take an awful lot of personnel, and an awful lot of freight, over long distances, quickly.”
Bravo Zulu LXX’s boys and girls!
Like moving pieces on a chess board, there was only one piece and the opposition are Grand Masters at Chess.
How about, LXX moved 16 AA into theatre while 3 Cmdo Bde were delivered by RN and RFA to combine and meet the threat; meanwhile ‘X’ Div were on stand by to move to re-inforce?
Perhaps not.
In future news, a landie will drive from one location to another.
Well it’s an IADS exercise so deploying large land forces is unlikely, the emphasis will be on AD units. Secondly Constanta and Poznan are both somewhat hard to deploy a amphibious force too, even if the FCF conops allowed 3 Cmdo to deploy at brigade scale.
A more realistic exercise might be elements of 16AA deploying into theatre to link up with EFP elements while 3 Ranger surges its presence to tie in with HN SOF and TDF forces.