Saber Strike int'l military exercise kicks off in Baltic states, Poland

International military exercise Saber Strike 2015 kicked off in the three Baltic States and Poland on Monday.

Around 6,000 troops from 13 NATO member countries are conducting the U.S. Army Europe-organized international training through June 19, announced Lithuanian Defense Ministry.

According to the ministry, the allied manoeuvers concentrated in Lithuania during the exercise are the most numerous in the history of Lithuania's NATO membership since 2004.

Lithuania is the main host nation for the exercise. Saber Strike 2015 exercise is aimed to enhance military cooperation between allied countries and garner host nation support.

"This exercise is an opportunity to give one more demonstration of both our armed forces' and our strategic partners' abilities to organize military drills of such scope together and to continue honing interoperability," Major General Almantas Leika, Commander of the Lithuanian Land Force, said in a statement.

The ministry revealed the military hardware brought to the exercise include the U.S. tanks ABRAMS, armored fighting vehicles the Stryker, the Boxer and the Piranha, armored infantry carriers the Eagle IV and the Dingo II.

The U.S. Army Europe has been conducting Saber Strike cooperative trainings focusing on the three Baltic States since 2010. Saber Strike 2015 is the fifth of the series.

Saber Strike 2015 follows Flaming Sword 2015, the largest special force exercise in the Baltic Region. The three-week trainings organized by the Lithuanian Special Operations Forces alongside with Danish, Estonian, Latvian, Polish, U.S., Norwegian, Swedish special force personnel ended three days ago.

Lithuania, a small Baltic country, has strengthened its military trainings jointly with NATO allied forces and hosted increased NATO force presence since security threats in the Eastern Europe emerged with Ukraine conflicts a year ago. Endit