Soldiers from Poland’s 6th Airborne Brigade, based in the southern city of Kraków, and rocket artillery personnel operating HIMARS systems from the north-central city of Toruń are participating in the drills, which are part of the larger Defender 2025 exercise program.
The training simulates joint operations in response to a potential threat in the region and includes the rapid reinforcement of vulnerable locations such as airfields.
This year’s Swift Response features five nearly simultaneous airborne operations across Norway, Sweden’s Baltic island of Gotland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Finland. It marks the sixth edition of the exercise and involves air and airborne forces from over a dozen NATO member states, including the US 82nd Airborne Division, Poland's 173rd Airborne Brigade, and units from the UK and Spain.
According to Poland’s Armed Forces General Command, Polish paratroopers flew to Finland aboard Hercules transport aircraft and were deployed to the Pyhtää airfield, east of Helsinki, where they are conducting joint drills with Finnish troops.
Other elements of the unit reached Finland by sea, supported by the Polish navy.
The 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla also took part in the operation. The transport and mine-laying vessel ORP Toruń delivered Polish HIMARS rocket launchers and additional troops to the Finnish coast.
The mission marks a rare use of Polish naval assets for large-scale overseas equipment transport.
“In cooperation with the Polish navy, we successfully carried out a pioneering sea transfer of vehicles, equipment, and personnel aboard the ORP Toruń,” the 6th Airborne Brigade said in a statement. “The offloading phase, a key logistical challenge during such exercises, was executed flawlessly.”
Swift Response 2025 runs through the end of May and is one of several drills under the Defender 2025 umbrella, which involves around 25,000 NATO troops in total.
While Swift Response focuses on Northern Europe, upcoming exercises include Immediate Response in the Balkans and Saber Guardian in the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary in June.
A critical component of the training is the transatlantic deployment of US forces. This year, nearly 5,500 American troops and their equipment are being transported from the United States to join their European counterparts and US forces already stationed in Germany and Italy.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP