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Watch US Army Europe’s 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command fire air defence missiles at aerial targets during exercise Tobruq Arrows in Latvia.

US Army Europe’s 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command (10th AAMDC) travelled from Kaiserslautern, Germany to Jurmalciems, Latvia to participate in exercise Tobruq Arrows 2020 from June 5-15.

During the exercise, US air defence assets conducted an Avenger Air Defense System live-fire exercise, shooting down drone targets off the Latvian coast. The US soldiers exercised with units from NATO Allies Latvia and Lithuania. All COVID-19 precautionary measures were taken.

Tobruq Arrows is a Latvian-led, multinational short-range air defence exercise intended to enhance interoperability among NATO forces and increase readiness through the integration of land component air missile defence capabilities

Footage includes various shots of US soldiers training on the beach in Latvia and firing air defence missiles at drone targets.

1. (00:00) WIDE PAN SHOT – AVENGER AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM VEHICLES AND TARGET DRONES ON BEACH IN JURMALCIEMS, LATVIA
2. (00:06) VARIOUS SHOTS – US SOLDIERS PRACTISE USING A MAN-PORTABLE AIR-DEFENSE SYSTEM (MANPAD) WHILE WEARING FACE MASKS
3. (00:35) VARIOUS SHOTS – TARGET DRONES TAKE OFF FROM BEACH
4. (01:10) WIDE SHOT – TARGET DRONE IN FLIGHT OFF LATVIAN COAST
5. (01:19) CLOSE UP – US SOLDIER FROM 10TH ARMY AIR AND MISSILE DEFENSE COMMAND TALKS ON RADIO
6. (01:30) VARIOUS SHOTS – US SOLDIERS FROM 10TH ARMY AIR AND MISSILE DEFENSE COMMAND ATTEND A BRIEFING ON THE BEACH IN JURMALCIEMS, LATVIA
7. (01:53) CLOSE UP – BADGE DEPICTING US FLAG ON SHOULDER OF SOLDIER
8. (02:02) VARIOUS SHOTS – US SOLDIERS PREPARE VEHICLES TO DRIVE DOWN THE BEACH
9. (02:14) MID SHOT – BRIGADIER GENERAL GREGORY BRADY OBSERVES THE SOLDIERS AS THEY PREPARE THE VEHICLES
10. (02:18) VARIOUS SHOTS - AVENGER AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM VEHICLES DRIVE DOWN BEACH IN JURMALCIEMS, LATVIA
11. (02:30) CLOSE UP – LATVIAN SOLDIER OBSERVES THROUGH BINOCULARS
12. (02:38) CLOSE UP – TOBRUQ ARROWS 2020 BADGE ON SOLDIER OF LATVIAN SOLDIER
13. (02:44) VARIOUS SHOTS - AVENGER AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM VEHICLES FIRE ROUNDS AND MISSILES AT DRONE TARGETS ON BEACH IN JURMALCIEMS, LATVIA
14. (03:32) VARIOUS SHOTS - US SOLDIERS FROM 10TH ARMY AIR AND MISSILE DEFENSE COMMAND USE MANPAD TO FIRE MISSILES AT DRONE TARGETS
15. (04:15) WIDE SHOT - AVENGER AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM VEHICLES DRIVE DOWN BEACH
16. (04:26) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – BRIGADIER GENERAL GREGORY BRADY, 10TH ARMY AIR AND MISSILE DEFENSE COMMAND

“We’re at Tobruq Arrows exercise 20 and we are executing our combined air missile defence mission here with Latvia and Lithuania, two of our close Allies, especially as we build our air missile defence capacity as we focus on interoperability and integration.”

1. (04:44) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – BRIGADIER GENERAL GREGORY BRADY, 10TH ARMY AIR AND MISSILE DEFENSE COMMAND

“Even with the COVID-19 environment, they’re focused on protection of the force. Focusing on the health of the force, they were able to still train but exercising certain protocols. The hygiene – washing hands going into buildings – but also wearing the protective equipment, and you’ll see a lot of the soldiers wearing their masks. All of these together, with the discipline of this unit, we’re able to mitigate the effects of COVID-19, but to keep a high level of readiness and that is critical for this air defence unit.”

1. (05:17) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – BRIGADIER GENERAL GREGORY BRADY, 10TH ARMY AIR AND MISSILE DEFENSE COMMAND

“The message it sends is that no matter what events that happen to this unit that they are resilient and they are ready to deter any type of threats and provide the air missile defence capability. But even more so important, as we are shoulder-to-shoulder with our Allies here, we’re demonstrating the air missile defence capacity together. Because we cannot do this alone, and bringing together these different capabilities, we’re able to provide air missile defence to deter our most pressing threats to the Alliance.”

1. (05:46) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – CAPTAIN STANLEY SZUMIGALA, 10TH ARMY AIR AND MISSILE DEFENSE COMMAND

“So we brought with us the Avenger Weapons System. It is stinger-based turret-mounted weapons system that’s mounted to the back of a Humvee platform. In addition to that, we’ve also got MANPADS for a single soldier to shoulder-launch a stinger missile at aerial targets.”

1. (06:00) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – CAPTAIN STANLEY SZUMIGALA, 10TH ARMY AIR AND MISSILE DEFENSE COMMAND

“To mitigate the issues that we have in the events that crews cannot maintain the two-metre distancing, specifically when they’re doing crew drills and when they’re operating the equipment itself, is making sure that they wear the proper PPE required. That PPE, as mentioned before, is making sure that they’re wearing their facemasks, their eye-pro, their gloves and making sure that they’re doing everything in their power to maintain the physical distancing but when not possible that they’re wearing that protective equipment to help mitigate the risk of them spreading the virus.”

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