Massive Military Build-Up Begins Off Scotland
Twenty two surface ships and four submarines from 15 countries have gathered off the coast of Scotland for NATO's bi-annual Exercise Joint Warrior.
Some 40 aircraft including RAF Typhoons, Turkish F-16's, US Boeing P-8 Poseidon's and Norwegian C-130 Hercules - all operating out of RAF Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth - are also involved. There's also increased activity at the likes of Faslane and on the MoD ranges at Cape Wrath.
In total some 3,400 troops will be taking part in the two week military exercise - one of Europe's biggest.
1,500 British service personnel from the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and the Army are among those participating. Other countries taking part include the US, Canada, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France and Spain.
Russian warships are likely to also be lurking in the North Sea trying to track the activities while under the terms of a European Arms Control treaty a number of military inspectors from Moscow are also in attendance. Escorted at all times and not shown any sensitive information they're reported to have already visited RAF Lossiemouth.
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On land, at sea and in the air Joint Warrior is designed to test and train the UK and its allies in air operations, close air support, target acquisition and reconnaissance, electronic warfare, jamming operations and live firing.
The man tasked with delivering the exercise, the Royal Navy's Captain Andrew Stacey, said: "Joint Warrior remains a unique opportunity for UK, NATO and Partner Nations' forces to train alongside each other and test their capabilities in an operationally realistic and challenging environment."
"The complexity of the exercise, which is always evolving, supports maritime, land and air training at large scale and delivers intense scenarios that drive our combined warfighting capabilities."
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