Army loads hundreds of vehicles on to ships ahead of major Nato exercise
A total of 2,434 UK personnel will also be travelling by truck and plane to Romania.
The Army has loaded hundreds of military vehicles on to giant vessels ready to be transported to Romania for the first deployment of Nato’s Allied Reaction Force.
A total of 730 vehicles have been fitted on to three ferries at the Sea Mounting Centre in Marchwood, Hampshire, ahead of Exercise Steadfast Dart 25 – which is aimed at showcasing Nato’s ability to mobilise at speed across Europe.
Foxhound patrol and Jackal high mobility weapons platform vehicles, Mastiff armoured patrol vehicles as well as fuel tankers and forklift trucks were being loaded on Thursday on to MV Hurst Point headed for the Greek port Alexandroupoli.
A total of 2,434 UK personnel will also be travelling by truck and plane to Romania as the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and the 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland deploy for the exercise.
The two regiments, part of 7 Light Mechanised Brigade – known as The Desert Rats, will form the main battlegroup supported by other UK forces and representatives from five other Nato nations.
The exercise marks the first deployment under the bloc’s new Allied Reaction Force (ARF), which replaced the Nato Response Force last year to deal “swiftly and effectively” with “any threat in an evolving security environment” during peacetime, crisis and conflict.
The aim is to practice a major deployment of land, sea and air forces across Europe and will be followed by the troops joining with the Romanian armed forces for the country’s annual defence exercise.
Speaking at Marchwood, Colonel Jim Beere, deputy chief of staff of 1st (UK) Div) which is commanding the land component, said: “This is significant for the UK, as this is the first ever time the Allied Reaction Force has deployed and the UK is providing the land component command which means we are providing the army – or land – component to that.”
He explained that Nato vehicles and troops will be travelling by different methods for the 2,300km journey to and from Romania, such as by sea, land and rail, to test Nato’s ability to deploy under pressure.
Col Beere said: “We have created some of our own challenges through the mechanism of our deployment on purpose because this really is a test of the UK’s, and Nato’s, ability to deploy at very high readiness in response to crisis.
“So we are employing sea, land, air and rail mechanisms which creates friction when you are travelling across multiple countries in Europe.”
Corporal James Hartley, 38, from Cardiff, who is involved in vehicle support services, said: “For us it is a day-to-day job but with this larger scale, it’s a lot more vehicles, a lot more movements, it’s quite challenging but we get the job done.
“We do this day-in day-out, but not on this larger scale.”
Confirming the UK’s involvement in the exercise earlier this month, armed forces minister Luke Pollard said: “This Government wants the UK to be Nato’s leading European nation.
“Exercise Steadfast Dart demonstrates our unshakeable commitment to Nato and highlights the UK’s key leadership role in the alliance.
“As we approach the three-year anniversary of Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we must continue to strengthen our collective defences together to deter (Russian president Vladimir) Putin effectively.”
