News story: UK troops combat ready for NATO Exercise Trident Juncture

After three days of intense training in harsh conditions – including helicopter drills, bridging drills and cold weather training – they now form a tight-knit, well-prepared and combat-ready multinational brigade of 2,500 personnel.

Minister for the Armed Forces Mark Lancaster said:

Whether it’s from the seas, the skies or on land, Exercise Trident Juncture will demonstrate the crucial contribution our Armed Forces make to NATO – an alliance which is the cornerstone of European security and stability in an increasingly unpredictable era.

From the skies, the UK is contributing four Hawk aircraft which touched down in Norway last week and in the surrounding seas HMS Cattistock, HMS Enterprise and two Type-23s – HMS Westminster and HMS Northumberland – will support the exercise as part of multinational task groups.

A total of 150 aircraft, 40,000 participants and 10,000 vehicles makes Exercise Trident Juncture 2018 NATO’s largest collective defence exercise in over a decade and will test the alliance in an article 5 scenario – when an attack on one is an attack on all.

Later this week they will all contribute to the Live Exercise. The British-led Multinational Brigade will face the challenging task of countering an advancing enemy, a role played by crack troops from Norway and Germany who are familiar with the terrain and environment.