May 11
British Army’s heavy armour deploys with NATO to Poland
As part of Exercise Defender, the British Army have completed the huge logistical task of deploying hundreds of armoured vehicles and their supporting units to Poland
The UK Armed Forces are demonstrating this month how they can deploy immense numbers including armoured units into Europe as part of NATO, to ensure the security and safety of the continent. Exercise Defender is an annual exercise designed to strengthen military relationships across the alliance.
Starting their journey from Marchwood military port in the UK, the British Army’s strategic sealift ship arrived at Gdańsk port on 9th May. Under the watchful eye of specialist movement controllers and vehicle movers from the British Army, troops began to unload the RORO (Roll-On Roll-Off Ferry) containing The King’s Royal Hussars Challenger 2 main battle tanks, and the Light Dragoons recce vehicles they’ll be using over the course of May.
A strategic sealift ship is a logistics ship which can carry heavy equipment and vehicles anywhere around the world by sea.
This is part of Exercise Defender, which is just one of many major exercises currently ongoing in Europe, making up one of the largest deployments of British Army troops since the Cold War.
Exercise Defender is a US-led NATO exercise which sees 1,000 British soldiers alongside troops from 11 partner nations including Poland and Denmark.
The events that unfolded at Gdańsk port may only look like vehicles being unloaded from a ship, but it is a much bigger logistical feat than some may think. Careful planning and specialist teams enabled masses of large armoured vehicles to be moved quickly off the ship.
Logistics are crucial, it can be the difference between winning or losing the battle. The British Army’s logistics chains are among the best in the world.
Poor logistical planning can impact the effectiveness of military operations, preventing tanks from firing and leaving soldiers hungry. Logistics teams and specialists are deployed wherever the UK Armed Forces are to maintain the effectiveness of the force.
Later this month the troops from the King’s Royal Hussars and Light Dragoons will operate with their Polish counterparts, increasing their ability to operate alongside NATO allies.
