TALLINN (Sputnik) — The Baltic Fortress 2017 naval drills between the collective navy of the Baltic states started on Monday in Estonian waters and will test the admission of the NATO allies arriving by sea and other elements of military training, the Estonian Defence Forces said in a press release.
"The drills give us a good opportunity to work out the management of larger than usual units in conditions of the increased threat," the commander of the Naval Flotilla, Cmdr. Ain Parna, said as quoted in the press release.
The Lithuanian LNS Jotvingis, minesweeper LNS Kursis and patrol ship LNS Dzukas are taking part in the drills. Latvia is represented by the headquarters ship LVNS Varonis. The Estonian minesweepers Admiral Cowan and Sakala, the group of the Naval Staff and a diving unit, which also includes underwater robots operated by the Belgian Navy are ivolved in the exercises.
The exercises will end on May 26.
Baltic Fortress exercises have been held annually since 2008. They are organized on a rotational basis by the Navy of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Next year, the exercises will be held in Lithuania.
