Battleship clash

Already on site, soldiers were divided into 2 groups. In addition to Poles, Red forces included soldiers of the Estonian reconnaissance battalion and anti-tank platoon from Slovenia. The Blues faced them. They included British armored and mechanized sub-units, as well as French equipped with VBMR Griffon armored transporters and AMX 10.

The script of the exercise assumed that the Reds occupied a condition of the territory defended by the Blues, but their attack at any point was hampered.

When the ‘Bold Panzer’ begins The Reds were on the defensive. They tried to hold their opponent's march and disable as much of his forces as possible. Blues, on the another hand, had the goal of reflecting the lost territory.

– The fight took place in an highly hard area. We operated among swamps and forest-covered hills. We frequently encountered obstacles that we had to celebrate – says Colonel Grmerek. As he adds, Polish tankers Sometimes they would go consecutive to the enemy and then the clashes were conducted at a short distance, and the tanks stood other each another from 40 to 700 m. However, the Polish company was doing very well under specified conditions. “We managed to destruct most of the enemy tanks,” said Colonel Grmerek.

The “Bold Panzer” exercises were a test for soldiers enhanced NATO presence (eFP). Under this name, there are militant groups of the Alliance that are stationed in the east flank states. The group deployed in Estonia is led by the British, the 1 formed in Latvia, among others with Polish participation – Canadians.

During training, soldiers from different countries had to prove that they could work together even under the most demanding conditions. “This is crucial,” stresses Colonel Mark Luson of the UK contingent on the ERR portal, which belongs to the Estonian public broadcaster. "It is crucial throughout the NATO partnership strategy to guarantee reliable protection of the east flank. We must cooperate not only with Estonians, whose safety we aid to strengthen here, but besides with another European allies," he adds.

The officer besides admits that his soldiers are trained on a regular basis primarily in large open spaces. “Now we have modified our tactics to work effectively in forests, groves and narrow trails,” she notes.

Soldiers of the Polish contingent have already returned to Latvia, where they are preparing for further projects. “The participation in “Bold Panzer” was an interesting experience for us, and now we are facing an even more serious challenge. At the beginning of November, the “Resolute Warrior” begins, which is the biggest exercise during our shift – said Colonel Grmerek.

PKW Latvia has over 200 soldiers. They have at their disposal respective tanks. Until late they were machines PT-91which have late been converted to mentioned Leopardy in version 2PL. The Polish contingent is subject to the command of the NATO global Brigade formed by Canada. It besides serves subdivisions from Albania, Spain, Iceland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Italy, Denmark and Sweden.

The brigade is to aid Latvia defend its territory and safe the east flank of NATO. The 17th edition of the Polish contingent consists of soldiers of the 34th Armored Cavalry Brigade. Their mission ends in December. After them, the service in Latvia will begin another change.