Synopsis
In Tapa, Estonia, troops from the UK’s First Fusiliers Battlegroup, which leads NATO’s multinational battlegroup in Estonia, trained alongside troops from Estonia and France in exercise Bold Fusilier.
The exercise was held from 8-13 October 2023. It focused on the integration of a French Company and the UK Battlegroup within the 1st Estonian Brigade.
A Royal Canadian Regiment mechanised company and a Polish tank platoon acted as the opponents in the simulation.
The week-long exercise saw the Battlegroup forces test their armoured vehicle capabilities and abilities to negotiate obstacles and fight in congested terrain, like forests. The exercise culminated with the French troops clearing a 700 metre-long trench complex.
Footage includes various shots of the First Fusiliers operating Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicles, of British Army Challenger 2 tanks operated by the Queen’s Royal Hussars, and of French and Estonian troops practicing trench clearance.
Transcript
—SHOTLIST—
(00:00) VARIOUS AERIAL SHOTS (MUTE) – UK WARRIOR INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLES TAKE PART IN EXERCISE BOLD FUSILIER IN TAPA, ESTONIA
(00:16) VARIOUS AERIAL SHOTS (MUTE) – UK CHALLENGER 2 TANKS FROM THE QUEEN’S ROYAL HUSSARS TAKE PART IN EXERCISE BOLD FUSILIER
(00:39) VARIOUS SHOTS – UK TROOPS FROM THE FIRST FUSILIERS OPERATE WARRIOR INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLES DURING EXERCISE BOLD FUSILIER
(01:09) VARIOUS SHOTS – ARMOURED ENGINEERS REMOVE OBSTACLES AND CLEAR PATHS DURING EXERCISE BOLD FUSILIER
(01:22) VARIOUS SLOW-MOTION SHOTS (MUTE) – UK TROOPS FROM THE FIRST FUSILIERS OPERATE WARRIOR INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLES DURING EXERCISE BOLD FUSILIER
(02:11) SLOW-MOTION SHOT (MUTE) – CHALLENGER 2 TANK DRIVING IN MUD DURING EXERCISE BOLD FUSILIER
(02:27) VARIOUS SHOTS – ESTONIAN SOLDIER OVERSEES THE EXERCISE
(03:07) VARIOUS SHOTS – UK TROOPS FROM THE FIRST FUSILIERS PREPARE TO MANOEUVRE DURING EXERCISE BOLD FUSILIER
(03:32) VARIOUS SLOW-MOTION SHOTS (MUTE) – UK TROOPS FROM THE FIRST FUSILIERS PREPARE TO MANOEUVRE DURING EXERCISE BOLD FUSILIER
(04:27) VARIOUS SHOTS – ESTONIAN AND UK SOLDIERS WORKING TOGETHER DURING EXERCISE BOLD FUSILIER
(04:54) AERIAL SHOT (MUTE) – TRENCH IN CENTRAL TRAINING AREA IN ESTONIA
(05:04) VARIOUS SHOTS – FRENCH AND ESTONIAN FORCES PRACTICE TRENCH CLEARANCE DURING EXERCISE BOLD FUSILIER
(05:58) VARIOUS SHOTS – POLISH ARMOURED VEHICLES ARRIVE ON SCENE AS OPPOSITION FORCES
(06:34) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – LIEUTENANT COLONEL JAMES FERN, NATO MULTINATIONAL BATTLEGROUP ESTONIA
“To make combined arms work, we need to train and we need to train together and train effectively. In the same way as going to the gym, you get stronger by sets and repetitions, it’s exactly the same for combined arms manoeuvre. By training constantly, together, under pressure, then we can increase our capability and our war fighting ability.”
(06:55) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – LIEUTENANT COLONEL JAMES FERN, NATO MULTINATIONAL BATTLEGROUP ESTONIA
“NATO is fundamentally an Alliance. Having the French sub-unit operating within the First Fusilier’s Battlegroup allows us to build that Alliance from the bottom up so we understand each and every part of the battlegroup, each of our capabilities and we get over some of the human, some of the procedural challenges there are when you operate alongside different nations.”
(07:17) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – MAJOR KRISTIAN KARIST - OPERATIONS CHIEF, 1ST BRIGADE
“If you’re armoured like we are, the infantry fighting vehicles, the tanks, it just brings so much more firepower to the battlefield and then we can practice how to use it and I think it’s important if you want to actually impose your will on the enemy, you have to have firepower.”
(07:35) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – MAJOR KRISTIAN KARIST - OPERATIONS CHIEF, 1ST BRIGADE
“I think, what we are seeing today in the modern battlefield is that the trenches have not disappeared anywhere, they’re still there, they’re still valid. If you want to protect yourself you kind of have to dig in and it creates an opportunity to shape the terrain so you can actually use it in your advantage and manoeuvre like you want to do it and of course then you are more protected in the trench environment.”
(08:01) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – MAJOR KRISTIAN KARIST - OPERATIONS CHIEF, 1ST BRIGADE
“It’s always nice to see what other people are doing in their militaries to kind of learn from them and give also them some new ideas how probably to do stuff and in the end we all just, how to say, meet in the middle and through that we just enhance cooperation and mutual understanding so we would be more effective on task in the future.”
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