2 minute read
The Strategic Context for NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence
isles. On the penultimate day, a northerly wind allowed the crew to hoist the spinnaker and gybe it down the entire length of the Sound of Mull, using the skipper’s drone to capture some brilliant footage whilst doing so. On their return to Dunstaffnage marina a day later, the crew cleaned the boat and prepared it for the next oncoming Unit. All in all, the RTR had two brilliant weeks of sailing in some fantastic conditions, experiencing the very best of what Scotland has to offer. With interest in offshore sailing at an all-time high, the Sqn now looks to the summer of 2022 to see where we might head next. Aware of the low likelihood of experiencing the Scottish sun in consecutive years, hopes of a trip to Antigua remain high.
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Heading in Loch Scavaig on the Isle of Skye.
Cloud finally breaking to reveal the Isle of Rum. Champagne sailing conditions towards the end of the exercise.
Crew of week 2 snapped on the Isle of Skye.
INTRODUCTION
A Challenger 2 from BADGER operating in the dense woods of Estonia
Over the course of 2021 and 2022 The Royal Tank Regiment will have deployed on Op CABRIT 8,9 and 10. This will be the first time that the Regiment have deployed with their tanks to Estonia as part of the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence. This special feature will seek to explain the strategic and historical context of the deployments as well as the lessons identified, and challenges faced by the crews.
As this Journal goes to press, BADGER have recovered from Op CABRIT 8, DREADNAUGHT and EGYPT as part of the RTR Battlegroup are conducting themselves superbly on CABRIT 9 and AJAX are in the middle of the demanding pre-deployment cycle ready for Op CABRIT 10. The challenges of operating in Estonia are numerous, but the lessons that we have identified, and the experiences gained have been second to none. Tank crews have become masters at operating in woods, training in ground restricted by swamps and working alongside dismounted infantry. They have exercised and tested themselves against a fiercely determined and capable Estonian Defence Force who are certain of the peril of underestimating the threat from the East and regard the UK’s presence as one of the key tenets to their national security.
