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Multinational military exercise Iron Wolf 2016 kicks off in Lithuania

Xinhua, June 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Multinational military exercise Iron Wolf 2016, part of the broader international military training in the Baltic states Saber Strike 2016, kicked off on Monday, with thousands of NATO allied personnel to train in Lithuania in the coming two weeks.

According to the Lithuanian armed forces, during the military exercise, the country will host around 5,000 soldiers from Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, and the United States.

Lithuanian and allied forces are to train on operational planning, unit control, reconnaissance, moving in to a concentrated area, defensive and offensive operations, according to the information announced by Lithuanian armed forces.

Lithuania's defense officials say the number of allied military personnel deployed to train in Lithuania is growing every year, and this year's international training is the largest in the country in five years.

"Such numbers of soldiers deployed in Lithuania is a perfect example of talks and plans turning into real actions," the commander of the Lithuanian ground forces Major General Almantas Leika told a local press conference earlier.

"Furthermore, the exercise is very important in terms of information, or deterrence," he was quoted as saying by ELTA news agency.

The exercise follows a wide range of redeployment training of allied forces and increased movement of the military vehicles in the country's territory. According to Lithuanian armed forces, around 1,000 U.S. soldiers and 400 tactical vehicles have been redeployed from Germany on their way to Estonia while stopping in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Lithuania.

International field exercise Iron Wolf 2016, which lasts until June 21, is a part of the multinational training Saber Strike 2016 held in the Baltic states from May 27 to June 23.

Saber Strike 2016 is attended by around 10,000 troops from 13 NATO allied countries.

Lithuania and other Baltic states have strengthened their defense capabilities, military training and asked for an increased military presence from the allies since tensions in Eastern Europe erupted with conflicts in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Endit