US military heavy equipment arrives in Estonia

Some heavy equipment of the first battalion of the US Army armored regiment arrived in the Baltic country of Estonia on February 6.

Photo: AP

RIA Novosti news agency on February 6 quoted an announcement from the Estonian Ministry of Defense saying that heavy military equipment including tanks and infantry fighting vehicles had arrived at Estonia's Tapa station.

“The equipment is being unloaded. The US soldiers arrived in the Baltics last Friday,” the Estonian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

According to the Pentagon and Estonia's plan, US soldiers will stay in Estonia until spring, when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) international battalion unit begins its deployment.

Earlier, a representative of the US Embassy in Tallinn announced that the military equipment brought to Estonia included four M1A2 Abrams tanks and 15 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.

At the NATO summit held in Warsaw (Poland) in mid-2016, NATO members decided to deploy multinational battalions in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland on a rotational basis.

NATO members then also decided that the Canadian battalion would be stationed in Latvia, the German battalion in Lithuania, the British battalion in Estonia — and the American battalion in Poland.

The number of NATO troops in Estonia is expected to be 1,200, including 800 from the UK, and the rest from France and Denmark.

Meanwhile, the UK will contribute Warrior and Challenger 2 main battle tanks and reconnaissance aircraft.

France also sent heavy military equipment to the Baltic country.

According to TPO