Monday, June 07, 2010

DTN News: U.S. Marines Arrive In Estonia To Take Part In Baltops 2010 Drills

DTN News: U.S. Marines Arrive In Estonia To Take Part In Baltops 2010 Drills
Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti Dt. June 6, 2010
(NSI News Source Info) TALLINN, Estonia - June 8, 2010: Over 300 U.S. marines arrived in Estonia to take part in the Baltops-2010 naval exercises in the Baltic Sea on June 7-18, the press service of Estonia's General Staff said. They will join 200 U.S. marines who already arrived in the Baltic state. The Baltops exercise has been held annually since 1994 within the framework of the NATO Partnership for Peace Program. It is aimed to promote a mutual understanding of maritime interoperability between U.S. Navy, NATO, and non-NATO participants. This year, the exercise will be held in Latvia and Estonia and will involve about 3,000 servicemen from the U.S., Belgium, Estonia, Denmark, France, Russia, Latvia, the U.K., Lithuania, Germany and Sweden. A total of 36 vessels, two submarines and other military vehicles will take part in the drills, including Russia's amphibious assault landing ship, the Kaliningrad. Kaliningrad class ships are capable of carrying up to 500 tons of cargo, 13 tanks and more than 200 naval infantry. The warship represented Russia at the BALTOPS drills five times since 2003.

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