U.S. Marines with 2d Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion attached to Task Group 61/2.4, speak to a UH-1Y crew chief with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 264 before boarding near Saaremaa, Estonia, May 22, 2022. US Marine Corps Photo
Despite the Kremlin’s heavy losses in invading Ukraine, the Russians are “going to come back stronger” in a year or so to threaten the Baltics, Estonian Ministry of Defence Permanent Secretary said on Thursday. Read More
The following is the June 16, Congressional Research Service In Focus report The European Deterrence Initiative: A Budgetary Overview. Read More
US Marines with Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team-Europe stand in formation beside Estonian soldiers during a rehearsal for the Estonian National Day parade outside the Estonia Academy of Security Sciences in Tallinn, Estonia on Feb. 23, 2019. US Marine Corps Photo
In explaining his tiny Baltic nation’s commitment to NATO membership by sending soldiers to Afghanistan and deploying ground forces to Iraq, the prime minister of Estonia told an audience earlier this week, “we try to punch above our weight.” Read More
An Estonian soldier stands at attention as U.S. Marines with Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team-Europe approach in formation during a rehearsal for the Estonian National Day Parade outside the Estonia Academy of Security Sciences in Tallinn, Estonia, Feb. 23, 2019. US Marine Corps Photo
The foreign minister of one of the smallest nations in Europe said NATO only works when all the territories in the alliance are sacred and every member is committed “to die for your neighbor” if it is attacked. Read More
HMS Albion (L14) conducted officer of the watch maneuvers today (25th May 2109), in company with HNLMS Johan de Witt (L801), HDMS Absalon (L16), RFA Argus (A135), HNoMS Glimt (P964) and HNoMS Steil (P963). The maneuvers are a test for the bridge team, operating in such close proximity to the other ships in the task group. HMS Albion is currently deployed on Baltic Protector 19, the inaugural deployment of Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime). Royal Navy photo
ABOARD HMS ALBION, IN THE BALTIC SEA – The U.K. and its partners are testing out a first-responder force that could beat NATO to the punch if a crisis were to occur in Northern European waters. Read More
Estonian army scouts from 1st Battalion practicing their defensive maneuvers during Exercise SIIL/Steadfast Javelin in 2015. NATO Photo
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are three important U.S. allies who present a tempting target to the Kremlin to distract from Russia’s ongoing involvement in Ukraine, a panel of experts said Tuesday. Read More
Canadian soldiers storm the beach near Mayport during a UNITAS Gold amphibious assault demonstration in 2009.
Canada’s announcement to boost its defense budget by 70 percent over ten years comes after more than a decade of low spending, but also a period of intense operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere that has worn down both equipment and personnel. Read More
Estonian army scouts from 1st Battalion practicing their defensive maneuvers during Exercise SIIL/Steadfast Javelin in 2015. NATO Photo
While NATO remains unprepared to defend its most exposed states, positioning three American armored brigades in or near the Baltics would be a good first step in providing more effective deterrence against possible Russian moves, three experts in international security told the House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land subcommittee Wednesday. Read More
US Marines with the Black Sea Rotational Force, fires TOW anti-tank missile on July 8 in Bulgaria. US Marine Corps Photo
By quadrupling spending to counter a mounting threat from Moscow, the United States’ military emphasis in Europe has shifted from reassuring allies and partners to deterring Russia from “exercising malign influence [and using] coercion” to bully countries on its western and southern borders, witnesses told a key House panel Wednesday. Read More
A fleet of military vehicles wait pier side in preparation of Exercise Saber Strike 16 in Riga, Latvia, June 4, 2016. The vehicles were transported by a British Roll-On, Roll-Off ship from Norway for the exercise. US Marine Corps photo.
Ground forces from 13 nations are rehearsing in Latvia and Estonia amassing a large-scale force for a future crisis – from loading prepositioned equipment from caves in Norway onto a ship, to organizing the force in theater, to launching an assault. Read More
