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18 Oct 22. Belarus to hold live-fire exercises with Russia. The Belarusian defence ministry said on Monday it will conduct live fire exercises and anti-aircraft guided missile launches as part of its joint grouping with Russian forces, Interfax reported.
“Military units from the formations are planned to be deployed at four training ranges of the Republic of Belarus in the eastern and central part of the country, after which they will start conducting combat training activities,” Interfax quoted a Minsk defence official as saying.
The Belarusian defence ministry said last week that Russian troops would deploy to the country to form a new “regional grouping” amid claims from Minsk that Ukraine is preparing to attack its territory. Belarus has offered no evidence of Ukraine’s aggressive intentions.
Belarus is a close Russian ally that has provided logistical and political support to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Shortly before the Feb. 24 invasion, Russian troops arrived in Belarus for what Moscow described as military exercises, before launching cross-border attacks against the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. (Source: Reuters)
17 Oct 22. UK and Swedish Air Forces conduct live air attack exercise Baltic Striker. The exercise was conducted as part of an effort to continue enhancing the JEF interoperability. Personnel and aircraft from the Swedish Air Force and the UK Royal Air Force (Raf) have carried out a live air attack training exercise Baltic Striker.
It was conducted as part of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), which includes a total of ten allied and partner countries.
The JEF is a rapid response force that can be deployed at a time of crisis, either with NATO or on its own.
Baltic Striker allowed the participant forces to plan and execute high-value training under the initiative to continue the development of JEF’s interoperability.
The exercise involved the participation of the Swedish Air Force’s two JAS-39 Gripen aircraft and the Raf’s two Eurofighter Typhoon jets from the No. 6 Squadron, based at Raf Lossiemouth.
Together, the aircraft performed routine training activities in the Ravlunda Range region of southern Sweden.
As part of the exercise, the deployed aircraft were required to deter the attacks from the enemy’s maritime landing force deployed along Skåne’s east coast.
The drills involved British Typhoon jets launching inert Paveway IV munitions against the targets on the ground and at the sea, around 2km away from the coastline.
The Swedish Gripen were responsible for safeguarding Raf Typhoon jets from airborne threats.
Throughout the exercise, the live attack exercises were coordinated by the Swedish ground units, called Joint Terminal Attack Controllers.
The ground units were primarily responsible for the identification of the ground and sea-based targets and then marking them with smoke grenades.
An Raf pilot said: “For the Raf and Swedish Air Force to be able to safely and accurately deliver munitions on target together requires a very high level of interoperability, something we proved today.”
(Source: airforce-technology.com)
18 Oct 22. US, Canada and Japan complete exercises supporting RAN’s deployment. This marks the first time these four nations have conducted training together in the South China Sea.
Naval forces from the US, Canada and Japan have completed a series of exercises undertaken to support the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) regional Indo-Pacific deployment.
This marks the first time these four countries have carried out maritime exercises together in the South China Sea.
Multinational engagements of this kind are conducted to maintain stability and peace in the region, while strengthening cooperation with partner nations.
In this regional activity, the RAN was represented by Anzac-class frigate HMAS Arunta (FFH 151) and Hobart-class destroyer HMAS Hobart (DDG 39).
Both vessels commenced their regional deployment on 5 October. It was fourth such deployment for HMAS Hobart and Arunta this year.
In support of the two vessels, the US Navy deployed its Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Milius (DDG 69) and USS Higgins (DDG 76).
Participating assets from Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) included Akizuki-class JS Suzutsuki (DD 117) and Murasame-class JS Kirisame (DD 104).
The Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) Halifax-class frigate HMCS Winnipeg (FFH 338) also participated in the drills.
USS Milius commanding officer commander Matthew Hays said: “Working with our Australian, Canadian and Japanese allies in the South China Sea has been an invaluable experience and opportunity.
“Combined maritime exercises help us strengthen interoperability and increase collective war-fighting readiness.
“It was great to be able to work with these three navies and to demonstrate our unwavering strong support for their increasing role in the region and our commitment to a free and open Indo-pacific.”
During this period, the US Navy, the RAN, the RCN and JMSDF conducted several complex maritime missions and training drills in the Indo-Pacific region. The integrated operations included air, surface and sub-surface defence exercises involving naval vessels and maritime patrol aircraft. (Source: naval-technology.com)
17 Oct 22. Around 2,000 soldiers train under Noble Partner exercise in Georgia. Roughly 2,000 personnel from various nations participated in the sixth edition of Exercise Noble Partner held in Georgia.
Soldiers from countries such as the UK, US, Georgia, Sweden and Japan were trained in complex climatic and topographical environments as part of an integrated Nato force.
More than 100 UK soldiers primarily from the 82 Squadron, 13 Air Assault Support Regiment Royal Logistic Corps took part in the military drills.
The contingent based in Colchester, UK, which is the second-largest visiting military group after the US regiment, provided tactical training to Bulgarian, Greek, Romanian, Moldovan and Georgian armed forces personnel.
Headed by Major Matthews, the British regiment served as a light infantry group for the exercise.
The regiment also worked on a three-day training schedule to offer a comprehensive urban operations package.
Major Matthews said: “We are a logistic squadron by trade and this isn’t our day job, but it fits nicely into the ‘soldier first’ ethos that the army has embraced.
“To be able to integrate at a soldier level with so many other partner nations has been extremely beneficial.”
Georgian Defence Forces chief major general Matiashvili said: “The dynamics of this exercise strengthens our defence for the Black Sea catchment.
“I extend my gratitude to Nato and its partners for this important support to improve Georgia’s position in defence.”
According to the British Army, the latest exercise on Nato’s eastern flank displayed its capability to deploy quickly overseas. (Source: army-technology.com)
17 Oct 22. Fourteen allied nations begin Nato’s nuclear exercise Steadfast Noon 22. The exercise involves participation of 60 aircraft, including surveillance, tanker, and fighter aircraft.
Around 60 air assets from across 14 Nato allied and partner nations have begun Nato’s annual nuclear deterrence training exercise Steadfast Noon 2022.
The recurring exercise is being conducted from 17 to 30 October.
Scheduled to be hosted by a different Nato allied nation every year, the latest Steadfast Noon is being hosted by Belgium.
This iteration of multinational exercise involves the participating air forces practising and honing their nuclear deterrence capabilities. Nato has confirmed that no live weapons will be used during the drills.
The training will primarily be carried out above the north-western European region, with training sorties planned to be conducted over Belgium, the North Sea and the UK.
Among the 60 participating aircraft include fourth-generation and fifth-generation fighter jets, surveillance aircraft and tanker aircraft.
This year’s exercise also involves the participation of the US Air Force’s (USAF) B-52 Stratofortress bomber aircraft.
Throughout this exercise, the B-52 will fly out from the Minot Air Base (AB) in North Dakota.
Nato spokesperson Oana Lungescu said: “This exercise helps ensure that alliance’s nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure and effective.”
According to Nato, Steadfast Noon 2022 is in line with the organisation’s new ‘Strategic Concept’, which was accepted by the leaders of allied nations at the Madrid Summit in June this year.
The newly adopted concept commits to ‘preserve peace, prevent coercion and deter aggression’ by continuously enhancing nuclear capabilities.
In a report, Reuters claimed that the schedule of Nato’s Steadfast Noon exercise is expected to coincide with Russia’s nuclear exercise Grom, which is usually held in late October every year.
However, Nato has confirmed that its exercise is ‘not linked to any current world events’.
UK and Swedish Air Forces conduct live air attack exercise Baltic Striker.
The exercise was conducted as part of an effort to continue enhancing the JEF interoperability.
Personnel and aircraft from the Swedish Air Force and the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) have carried out a live air attack training exercise Baltic Striker.
It was conducted as part of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), which includes a total of ten allied and partner countries.
The JEF is a rapid response force that can be deployed at a time of crisis, either with Nato or on its own.
Baltic Striker allowed the participant forces to plan and execute high-value training under the initiative to continue the development of JEF’s interoperability.
The exercise involved the participation of the Swedish Air Force’s two JAS-39 Gripen aircraft and the RAF’s two Eurofighter Typhoon jets from the No. 6 Squadron, based at RAF Lossiemouth.
Together, the aircraft performed routine training activities in the Ravlunda Range region of southern Sweden.
As part of the exercise, the deployed aircraft were required to deter the attacks from the enemy’s maritime landing force deployed along Skåne’s east coast.
The drills involved British Typhoon jets launching inert Paveway IV munitions against the targets on the ground and at the sea, around 2km away from the coastline.
The Swedish Gripen were responsible for safeguarding RAF Typhoon jets from airborne threats.
Throughout the exercise, the live attack exercises were coordinated by the Swedish ground units, called Joint Terminal Attack Controllers.
The ground units were primarily responsible for the identification of the ground and sea-based targets and then marking them with smoke grenades.
An RAF pilot said: “For the RAF and Swedish Air Force to be able to safely and accurately deliver munitions on target together requires a very high level of interoperability, something we proved today.”
(Source: airforce-technology.com)
17 Oct 22. South Korea kicks off military drills amid talk of North Korean nuclear test. South Korea’s troops kicked off their annual Hoguk defence drills on Monday, designed to boost their ability to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats amid simmering tension over both sides’ military activities. The drills, due to end on Saturday, are the latest in a series of military exercises by South Korea in recent weeks, including joint activities with the United States and Japan.
The latest field training came as North Korea has been carrying out weapons tests at an unprecedented pace this year, firing a short-range ballistic missile and hundreds of artillery rounds near the heavily armed inter-Korean border on Friday.
Pyongyang has angrily reacted to the South Korean and joint military activities, calling them provocations and threatening countermeasures. Seoul says its exercises are regular and defence-oriented.
Joined by some U.S. forces, the South Korean troops will focus on maintaining readiness and improving the troops’ ability to execute joint operations during the Hoguk drills, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
“The forces will conduct real-world day and night manoeuvres simulated to counter North Korea’s nuclear, missile and other various threats, so that they can master wartime and peacetime mission performance capabilities and enhance interoperability with some U.S. forces,” it said in a statement.
Last week, tensions flared after the North fired a missile, shot more than 500 artillery shells and flew a multitude of warplanes near the skirmish-prone sea border.
Seoul condemned Pyongyang and imposed its first unilateral sanctions in nearly five years, describing the moves as a violation of a 2018 bilateral military pact banning “hostile acts” in the border area.
But the North accused the South’s military of escalating tension with its own artillery firing. South Korean lawmakers have said the North has completed preparations for what would be its first nuclear test since 2017, and might conduct it between China’s key ruling Communist Party congress, which began on Sunday, and the Nov. 7 U.S. midterm elections. But some analysts do not expect any tests before the Chinese congress ends. (Source: Reuters)
14 Oct 22. DOD Exercise Points to Ways Western Hemisphere Can Combat Climate Change. Hurricane Ian, which tore through the Caribbean, smashed Puerto Rico and decimated parts of Florida, is the most recent reminder that climate change is already happening and causing new burdens and costs on people worldwide. Daniel Erickson, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Western Hemisphere affairs, and Kristina O’Brien, from the Joint Staff, helmed a tabletop exercise to examine the effects climate change will have on the Western Hemisphere and examine how to respond to increasingly violent storms and natural disasters.
DOD often works in support of civilian agencies in humanitarian disaster relief assistance operations. The department’s personnel and logistics capabilities are often the difference between life and death for those affected.
The tabletop exercise was entitled “Precipitous Storm,” and it was important to identify the ways that climate change will “irrevocably alter the context in which the department operates,” Erickson wrote in a report on the results of the exercise.
Climate change, he said, will create new operational demands on DOD and could undermine existing capabilities.
The Western Hemisphere is susceptible to climate impacts and the homeland will be affected as well as neighbors in the region. The tabletop exercise “envisioned climate-related scenarios in 2037 followed by a discussion regarding how DOD and the interagency would need to respond, and steps that we can now take to be better prepared to mitigate climate-related risks,” Erickson said in the report.
The exercise highlighted the need for more capabilities in the hemisphere, more cooperation among interagency partners and more interoperability among the countries of the region, he said.
The exercise brought together many DOD personnel, members of U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Southern Command and interagency partners.
Erickson would like to see more tabletop exercises with regional partners. He would also like to see DOD work more closely with partners in the region to help develop their capabilities. He would also like to see a climate change aspect to any future table-top exercises sponsored by DOD.
The exercise did, in fact, point to ways the department can prepare now for the challenges inherent in climate change, said DOD officials. The officials said the United States really needs a whole-of-government coordination mechanism to develop actions and messaging to compete in the arena created by climate change. (Source: US DoD)
14 Oct 22. US Sixth Fleet, STRIKFORNATO commence Neptune Strike 2022.2.
The activity will enhance interoperability of allied CSGs and STRIKFORNATO in Euro-Atlantic Area (DDA). The US Sixth Fleet and Naval Striking and Support Forces Nato (STRIKFORNATO) have commenced vigilance activity Neptune Strike 2022.2 (NEST 22.2).
The activity started on 14 October at STRIKFORNATO’s headquarters in Oeiras, Portugal.
NEST 22.2 is the eighth phase of Nato’s Project Neptune, which is a long-planned series conceptualised in 2020.
The current activity aims to bring together all the Nato commands working with different allied nations for planning and executing several multi-domain vigilance activities in realistic environment.
NEST 22.2 involves participation of around 19 allied and partner nations, including the US, France, Canada, the UK, Greece, Romania, Lithuania, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, North Macedonia, Türkiye, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Albania, Sweden and Finland.
At the focus of this activity will be the US Navy’s George H W Bush Carrier Strike Group (GHWBCSG), which is on a scheduled deployment in the Mediterranean Sea since August.
The strike force was deployed by the US Sixth Fleet to safeguard allied and partner nations in the US Naval Forces Europe-Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) area of operations.
Given that the steel industry is responsible for about 8% of the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, lowering the volumes of these emissions from manufacturing facilities is crucial for steelmakers as the global decarbonisation agenda continues to expand.
Companies acting now to enhance sustainability will benefit from environmental, social, and governance (ESG) indicators to gain a competitive edge and stay ahead of changing carbon legislation.
For decades, advances in technology and a move away from traditional blast furnaces (BFs) toward electric arc furnaces (EAFs) have greatly reduced energy use in steel. The vigilance activity will see US Sixth Fleet performing a transfer of authority (TOA) of the GHWBCSG to STRIKFORNATO.
Once official TOA is complete, the GHWBCSG along with other nations’ forces will demonstrate alliance’s interoperability and ability to operate in the European waters.
SIXTHFLT and STRIKFORNATO commander vice admiral Thomas Ishee said: “NEST 22.2 is example of Nato’s ability to integrate high-end maritime warfare capabilities of an allied carrier strike group, ensuring our collective ability to deter and defend.” (Source: naval-technology.com)
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About InVeris Training Solutions
InVeris Training Solutions combines an agile approach with an unmatched expertise in training technology to design and deliver customized, cutting-edge, first-rate training solutions that keep military, law enforcement and commercial range customers safe, prepared and ready to serve – Because Seconds Matter™. With a portfolio of technology-enabled training solutions, and a team of 400 employees driven to innovate, InVeris Training Solutions is the global leader in integrated live-fire and virtual weapons training solutions. With its legacy companies, FATS® and Caswell, InVeris Training Solutions has fielded over 15,500 live-fire ranges and 7,500 virtual systems globally during its 95-year history. The Company is headquartered in Suwanee, Georgia and partners with clients in the US and around the world from facilities on five continents.
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