NATO in Estonia: Largest Military Exercise in the Baltics | ACCESS
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- BFBS Creative join the largest ever mobilisation of Estonian Defence Forces, to test how the nation would respond if invaded. We follow troops from the Royal Tank Regiment Battlegroup, the Royal Welsh Battlegroup and their allies as they exercise among members of the public, simulating what it could be like if this was for real.
Estonia forms part of the North Eastern edge of Europe. All males are mandated to conduct military training as part of the national service, many women do too.
Conscription and military exercising is done for a good reason. Russia has invaded and occupied Estonia numerous times. It was occupied by Russia at the beginning of WW2 before being fought over and occupied by the Nazis. By the end of the war it had been retaken to form part of the Soviet Union at the end of the war.
Estonia is part of NATO and there is a an international battlegroup of NATO troops, led by the British, but with allies from the Danish and French military alongside them.
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The Estonia officer explaining the name 'Operation Hedgehog' and then says 'Bloody ell', warms my heart :), it shows they are learning more than just militarily from each other.
His face cam is terrible, no gloves and as for his smart watch!
@@BlutoandCo At least it's a fitness watch with a battery life measured in days, not hours, and actual features that a solider would use (even if it is a luxury).
And that Estonian accent is so cool
What do you mean learning more? English is spoken very widely and I think also mandatory if you want to be a liutenant or higher.
@@Gaming4Justice 'Bloody ell (hell)' is a very English phrase/expression. You won't know this by just learning English and he used it in a way that you can tell he learnt it from the British. Its a very small detail but has a large impact. Small things like this leads to better understanding of cultures and each other. Very Strong friendships are built from it and you gain a better understanding of your Ally, meaning when it comes to the serious nature of learning things military. Pow! You're doing it with friends no matter the flag you wave or where you are from.
If Estonia got attacked i will go and defend them. i am Polish
Thank you ehe!
@softiasjad1858 dude, just become a "mercenary", there are lots in ukraine right now, i'd even say 50% of ukrainian army now is basically NATO's mercs.
Same here. I am Canadian
@Softi Asjad Poland is helping Ukraine as much as possible, but we also have the responsibility to not force our NATO allies to go into an open conflict. Sending a peacekeeping force was one of the first things Poland suggested when the "special operation" started, but it was rejected by NATO. And we've always been a strong supporter of allowing Ukraine into NATO.
Yeah, big promises now that Ukraine has castrated Russia.
Stay strong brothers! Greetings from Finland.
Hey I'm one of the royal Welsh lads and that was my mate on the 50cal awesome work
Cheers dits
I was wondering what kind of beast it was, bloody deadly looking, that you boys managed to take that position says a lot!
I was there at SIIL. Our platoon met Welsh soldiers in the field while they were trying to ambush us.
I was among the reservists who took part in this exercise! It's really great to just get pooled out of you average day to day life, take up arms and go to forest for 2 weeks to refresh/remember all the skills I got while in the army! ^_^
Are all Europeans so eager to turn their cities into rubble for a puppet master which does not even come to defend them?
Elagu Eesti Vabariik! 🇫🇮💙🇪🇪
Elagu! Elagu! Elagu!
Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm! Even though I've been living in Finland since I was 3-years old, I will not hesitate to defend my homecountry anyday anytime!
Greetings and respect from Latvia!
Loved that clip with the colonel and his explanation of the 'Hedgehog'. Symbolises and sums up the the situation - a peace-loving people who are prepared to be prickly when called upon to defend.
God bless and defend the Estonians if the threat they feel becomes reality .
The baltic countries will be fine under the protection from Finland and Sweden, two very well disciplined armies who will protect Europe along with NATO 🙌🏻🇬🇧🇺🇦🇪🇪🇫🇮🇸🇪
Sweden doesn't have big army the big issue is that in case of something none of nato countries doesn't have enough power in this moment
@@lucaciarnold-vasile9022 lol PLEASE Estonia is perfectly safe. If Russia moves there, Russia will fall. The big-bad-scary Russia could not take the handful of cities in the Ukraine it had as goals well over a year ago. A nation for which it shares a huge border and an offensive for which it prepared for multiple years. You want to talk about paper tigers?!? P-L-E-A-S-E! LOL
@@lucaciarnold-vasile9022 numbers of active domestic military, reservists, and national defense on standby in Finland and Estonia, then add in the NATO multi-national battlegroups, a Russian incursion with a useless dwindling ground army stuck in the 1940s would be vapourised fast.
0:19 0:20 0:20 0:20
Oh u Estonian badasses, greetings from Finland we love our brothers . :)
The slogan for operation Hedgehog is also visible on the badges, and it translates to 'every quill counts' which you can imagine is very poignant considering how small the country is
In terms of population, Russia is also a small country compared to all of NATO) but be sure if one of the arrogant Eastern European mongrels starts World War III, the Russian nuclear potential will be enough for the entire bloc
4p
its siil not sill lol, when they showed the animated picture someone messed up
no matter how many times i see nato im always amazed how these countires with different languages and different mindset manage to come together to defend their countries
Lots of dosh....
Squabbling siblings come to mind.
@@No1sonuk Siblings with way more funding than the RF. And that fire power....soooo biblical in proprtion to the er....other side. 🤣🥰🥰👏👏👏👍👍🤙
Looking forward to see Swedish and Finnish units in these wargames later when we join NATO.
Baltic Sea will become Lake NATO.
Finnish artillery already took part of this exercise.
@@ZalvaTionZ Europe's artillery has just been doubled :D
And we can't wait to have you! :)
@@ZalvaTionZ There were quite a few finns this year
great to see are neighbours beeing awesome! greetings from Sweden
I really feel alot closer to our neighbouring countrys the last year! WE just wanna live in peace. Europe!!!!
Love to Estonia from Alberta, Canada
Poland will stand with Estonia and NATO too!!
Who cares. Ukraine is actually the only one getting hit hard 😂
ruclips.net/video/xE8TcBjhgk4/видео.html
@@B4audi visit Poland to see it collapse you will be surprised :> You will see also some cats going to Ukraine :)
Estonia's issue is Finland's issue, finno-ugric brothers🇫🇮🇪🇪💪
jesteśmy razem estońscy przyjaciele, pozdrowienia z Polski
@Lazar Ovich why you don't have Kosovian flag?
Amazing video, I just recently watched your other video when you were also in Estonia and really liked it. It is really interesting to see what is going on in Baltic countries and how are they managing the situation. Loved the collective teamwork of British and Estonians soldiers.
Estonia may be a small nation but like Ukraine, when you are invaded, the invader is fighting for added ground to his nation. The Armed forces of the nation is fighting for their existence. They are fighting for their very survival. That makes them a more ferocious force to overcome. Ukraine is a prime example of that. They were preparing to fight Russia with molotov cocktals. For your survival you will fight with any and everything at your disposal.
russia isnt invading ukraine to add it to their country, they are invading it to stop it from joining nato, just like what they did to georgia
With Nato and our Northen Brothers Estonian freedom is not gonna be challenged evere again!🇩🇰🇪🇪🇫🇮🇱🇻🇱🇹🇸🇪🇲🇨🇳🇴🇲🇫🏴
Have to say this is a real step up for a BFBS video.
Kudos
Stay strong, love from Sweden ❤
Great way of explaining why it’s called Exercise Hedgehog 🦔
Excellent video, and greatly impressed by your French language skills! Thank you!
Only thing missing that during maritime part of the same operation they blew up Nord Stream pipe line. That's fairly well established now. This year it was all smoke show to cut germany from Russian gas.
While I sleep... the guys of my country are training to defend me and my family if something happens. I never thought about this before... I couldn't be more grateful
When FINLAND come part of NATO family IT Will Be we WHO Will protect Estonia and other Baltic friends.
Kiitti että tuet meitä virolaisia.
Estonia is badass. You should train as you fight and life can’t stop for modern conflict. This means that the reality of war is that civilians will be present.
It was an honor to be part of the Danish contribution there.
And we'll be back again next year.
The Estonians were very professional, and it was such a different experience to be on an exercise where civilians just go about their daily lives.
No way in hell we'd be allowed in Denmark to just roll tanks down the main street in large towns.
Good insightful coverage.
Excersize Siil/ Hedgehog,is an important training self evaluation for the Estonian Defense Forces and NATO allies.
Back in 1995, I was part of the Estonian Defense Forces Army Military Police assisting with the development of the then fledging Estonian Defense Forces as the Provost Marshall of Tallinn.
Back then we knew and projected that Russia would eventually become an aggressor state once again.
Our goal was that our Forces would be prepared and ready for the much needed NATO membership.
In those days we just received Israeli small arms and various Anti Armor systems, we did not yet have our own complete Field Combat Rations or the proven CV90's.
Since then the overall situation of the capability of the EDF has greatly improved.
It makes me feel good to see a capable well equipped Estonian Defense Force units out and about doing what has to be done, working with NATO allies.
Busting out the French was impressive. This channel keeps smashing it out the park - keep it up 👍👍
Respect to you all. Thank you.
Really well done video. I especially like the last part about any invader coming to Estonia - they will have one hell of a fight.
Bless all those soldiers,
Good to see proper readiness in the Baltics, like they deserve.
it is just a game play, in reality ....the defence is really small....Estonia does not have proper army, but I believe Russia would not go to Baltic countries or Finland and Sweden - no point. Only one thing is under question - missiles, which can be installed ....fingers crossed nothing will happen.
@@discoboy8169 Well, actually Estonia functions on reserve force tactics, and we can mobilise up to 120'000 fighters plus support very quickly. We don't have air force nor a navy, but we have well trained, well equipped and very motivated people and we have a LOT of manpad's, which do wonders in conventional war, as the brave Ukrainian fighters have demonstrated. Our entire land is a serious obstacle for heavy machinery and we know every nook and cranny and swamp. And what's more important, we aren't alone, that's where NATO comes in, to fill the blanks and seamlessly integrate with eachother, making it a single minded, tactical fighting force.
@@discoboy8169 we have a proper army and good training you hell you know about it
@@discoboy8169 230k people are in the mobilization registry
Wow Estonia is beautiful 😍
Operation hedgehog was also my last exercise as a conscript, before joining the reserve - was a blast
Hello dear Mr and Mrs! Congratulations to all participants in the military exercise "Hedgehog"! Special thanks to British, Danish and French troops. I believe that Estonian army has many good instructors. ❤❤❤ LOVE NATO ❤❤❤
Fun fact! Estonia was occupied more than twice but instead by the Tutonic knights, Parts of Estonia annexed by Poland (Polish-lituania), sweden, USSR x3, Germany
so in total from memory 7, there is probably more And yet Estonia still lives on! what a great country, Huge respect from Germany!
There is more but Estonians don't see it as occupation. What went on before declaration of independence after WW1.
What a fascinating film. Keep safe everyone. The photography is in the film is stunning
Superb work, especially the photography and use of drone footage for essentially simple shots but the use of the drone added more depth. (Does that make sense?) Top stuff, more please.
In many western countries, people would be pretty pissed off about military troops just walking around and being visible in daily life. In Estonia, however, I would bet that it's somewhat comforting to know how close friendly forces are, and to see with your own eyes how much time and effort they spend preparing. When it's perfectly likely that a Russia tank could roll through their back yard, seeing a friendly one is probably nice.
I served before the Wall came down and we noticed how much friendlier the Germans got the closer you got to the IGB!
I'm an Estonian and while I can only speak for myself, I often see NATO troops here and do find it very comforting. We are a small nation with a brutal history and a very aggressive neighbor. And seeing everything go down in Ukraine, I'm kind of reliving the stories of our parents and grandparents and it's really tough, so I do take comfort in seeing the troops and knowing that we are not alone.
Really well done.
However the badge shown at 4:10 should be "siil" not "sill"
Very well presented and paced overall. So i could only nitpick with grammar only.
siili in finnish
In finnish "siili" means hedgehog, while "silli" means baltic herring. Really shows how vowel lengths make a difference 🤣
I'm glad we are joining NATO and can provide security to Estonia if something were to happen. Soon even more F-35s will protect the baltic and the north.
Well yes I suppose we would have to....apparently a good third of your reservists didn't show up for this exercise......never mind our young soldiers and our tanks are there protecting your boarders.....
I hope your young people do show up if it kicks off.....because I don't see why our young people should be fighting and dying for your nation when your lot can't even be bothered to show up!! 🇬🇧
saw dozens of osprays during operation hedgehog, the defense is insane
🦾💯👊💥
Great language skills !
🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹 STRONG BALTIC STATES
I find it very reassuring to see NATO working to defend us.
LOL, how reassuring when NATO was in Afghanistan for 20 years only for the Taliban to take over in a week? Now this blundering organization poked the Russian bear and will have another debacle on its hands.
Russia will crush estonia
@@YorkerEli But not NATO. Remember, Russia is a third-world country with a third-world military. NATO is a true 21st century military with highly integrated systems.
@@YorkerEli try us bitch, already beat yall once without NATO, this time with our allies we would liberate you guys from Pihkva to Vladivostok
@@leonchevalier 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤡🤡🤡🤡
good luck Estonia and nato european union god bless ukraine people soldiers
Well, Estonia would defend itself with the rest of NATO and stomp Russia into the next world.
What a video 🏴👍
I served beside some bits in the sandbox some years back. Some of the finest men I've ever met.
🇬🇧 🇺🇸 🇪🇪
Another good explanation I've heard for the hedgehog symbolism is that attacking Estonia should be made as unpleasant as it would be for a bear to eat a hedgehog. Sure, a bear could bite a hedgehog, but it would be very painful to do so. Hopefully painful enough that they stop and let the hedgehog be. :)
Baltic states can breathe peacefully as the Baltic Sea has become a NATO lake and Finland and Sweden will be a massive headache for any Russian troops in the Suwalki gap and the Baltic states.
Yeah, it was really weird a few years ago when any military vehicle drove by and it would have been the talk of the town for possibly many years, but now it has turned very common
@BFBS Creative: 1 like coming up.
"Peace at home" - best explenation I`ve ever heard - - - Best Wishes to Estonians, - Brits, - French, and my countrymen, and bst of luck + a safe return home.
Regards Nato being only a defncive organisation, I can garatie that on an attack on any member nation, it would real Quick change to all out offensive - all over the borderline - no doubt at all.
Wow what a great quality documentary 👏 I'm pleasantly surprised, such an easy sub from me 😊👍
There’s a tank in the garden? I guess that it’s not the one which stores water, but one which packs a punch!
One correction - it's SIIL, not SILL (around 4:07).
Those covers for the fortified areas are blended in very well from overhead
Very much reminiscent of the old Reforger wargames in Germany. I participated in 83 and 84 training along sides the German Army. Of course back then it was the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact that we were training to fight against. Different times but it seems the same old adversary.
They shouldn't need to. NATO has 4million well trained soldiers ready to roll out on Russia if they even think about invading Estonia. 🇪🇪🇺🇦🇺🇸
we still need our own military because NATO will still take the time to move the equipment to the baltics so our military is to hold the russians that long
Smart for them to be training daily and keeping exercises on the go so they can be ready
Whats the difference between a bmw and a hedgehog? on a hedghog the pricks are on the outside lol
Beautiful country over there too, heaps of fish spots and places to grow tulips
SIIL=hedgehog: It's actually from our epic story of Kalevipoeg, where hedgehog was there with good advice for our hero ..epic like german Nibelungs, etc
I believe that the Estonian regular army is one of the best in its class in the world. When we joined NATO, we once relied on the USA and Turkey etc, but not anymore. Now we rely on Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland and, interestingly, the British, who have always helped us in past wars, until the Yankees lay eggs.
We are ready to answer the same.
Thank You all, british, danish, french...
Small problem at 4:10 it is called "Siil" not "Sill"
this is how you prepare for war..not vodka drinking russian .
I wonder about the time off after or perhaps during this exercise ? I hope they got along well during the time off ?
Hé hé vous parlez un excellent francais , bravo pour le reportage.
I currently moved to Estonia from Canada. The problem is the country is flat and there are no natural barriers from the border to the east and with such a sparse population situated mostly in the west of the country, there is very little in the way of a superior armoured force. Also, a quarter of the population are ethnically Russian and most people speak Russian so there will be hard choices to make when they are fighting essentially their family members. I find the Estonian people very welcoming and a proud people, I hope the battle never comes their way.
one day in 2025 we will hurt russia with himars and coastal missiles
One integrated NATO unit would hold off the Russians until the support arrived. The Russian performance in Ukraine is woeful.
well. there is a Narva river and Peipsi. So most of the eastern border runs along some body of water. So the easiest way to cross border, when bridges come down is actually from south Estonia,that does not have a Russian speaking population.
Most people in Estonia certainly do not speak Russian. Russian speakers are mostly concentrated in North East and the capital.
At least half of ethnically Russians would be for sure on Estonian side. Not to mention there is like 1/5 ethnically Russians, not quarter.
BALTIC WAY FOREVER!
Imagine getting up to go to work and theres a few challenger 2s parked in your street unreal 😂 the british people havent even been that up close and personal with the British military.
Try commuting through Collingbourne Ducis on a daily basis... I've bumped into plenty of armour out conducting driver training. Church St is a fun place to play, "No, I insist after you..." with a FV432! I've even been buzzed by an Apache just south of Marlborough - still unnerving even though you know it's unarmed! :D
Try living near Catterick, you'll change your mind 😅
@@dannycostello I live near 3 army bases but no armour or anything in them just the usual standard stuff lorrys jeeps thats all unfortunately 😔😂
Great work guys! Love it!
Being a small country and thus a small army, ever since gaining our independence again (we've had it for a bit every now and then) our recruits and soldiers have trained in guerrilla warfare. That's our strength. The rest of the stuff (cheers, NATO!) is just clearing the table. Have to admit though, the times are still kind of scary.
The badge at 4:14 is written wrong, it's "SIIL" not "SILL"
Estonia is a relatively small country. It is part of NATO. Immediately to the south is the largest army in Europe. When Poland enters this possible war they will not stop until they are east of Moscow.
Putin may be deluded enough to try this stupidity but I think his army is not.
They carry vvery good selection of small arms very accurate guns
Those canopies are wicked how they blend in
Difference of estonia and ukrain is that, it is not as corrupted, it is organized and much richer than ukrain
🇬🇧🤝🇪🇪❤️nato
Good journalism
Maybe dumb and only personal opion, but you should work with the audio a bit. The backgroun music blasts over the text, so some of it is barely audible.
“El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz” Benito Juárez
The Estonian infantry are issued one of the nicest rifles of any military in the world, the LMT R20 RAHE. The British have one of the worst, though the SA80a3 is likely much better than previous models. I guess the Royal Marines and the Special operators now get the new Knight’s Armament KS-1 which is equivalent to the Estonians’ rifle.
Any evaluation on how the exercise went?
Our armed forces have done this in our seaside/desert town a couple of times. You find their blank shells all over.we have an army base here and wow the artillery exercises are loud.fishin is crap then cos you can almost feel it as the the low down sound is a thump.
Much like a Hedgehog, NATO is all about defense and teamwork. How anyone fails to see that is beyond me.
The only ones who fail to see that are those who don't want to see that.
And they still do see it. It just doesn't suit their agendas to admit it.
Defending from who?
@@petardopudja4290 Hey Zobius, this ones head is screwed on backwards. You got a fix for him?
@@petardopudja4290 NATO exists so Europe can keep the Americans in, the Germans down, and the Russians out. The German problem seems to be solved, but the US still has twinges of isolationism, and Russia is actively herding countries into NATO.
@@petardopudja4290 Putin's Russia.
Watching that , makes me wish I was young enough to join the TA.
Wont go back in the regs. But in the regs, I was based in West Germany.
Last time I was deployed in Europe was the Balkens.
Seems surreal right on the Russian border.
The regular common Estonian soldier has the regular kit they get from their military but they’re well off enough it seems with GDP per capita to get some things on their own. Like perhaps some US soldiers do. They buy aftermarket items they are willing to pay out of pocket?
Too few in numbers, what's needed is another 'British Army of the Rhine' sized force of at least 50,000 forward deployed soldiers and an armed forces back home in the UK sufficiently large to back that up.
I always said it was a mistake to down size the British military…… now we know why
@@cosmiccolonel they need to rebuild like Germany is
@@fuzer4047 you are absolutely right……..
0:21 ive seen ppl in the airforce do smth like that, is it like a command or smth ?
I think that the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia) should pull their resources together and for example afford a small air force, amongst other things. About 1/4th of Estonian citizens are Russian. This does not mean that they would participate in the 5th column sabotage. They may stay loyal to Estonia or at the very least neutral.
Hedgehog is an old WW2 German defensive position
Better a National tank than a russian missile in the garden and Peaces of bodies there...
Pieces not peaces
@@frednurk444 well one litle fail but you understood...
Not afraid of the missiles anymore
Wheewh some bad ass looking warriors there. Tooled up to the max.....
Even though it's fairly clear that Russia don't have the power to take on NATO in the Baltics, this is their last chance since once Finland and Sweden sign the dotted line, they will be the QRF for that region and the natives will be quickly reinforced. There is a slim chance that Russia may look to exploit a weakness in the meantime to get a foot hold. Hence why these very visable exercises are necessary.
That's some stunning French!
I am pretty sure that the Estonian high command didn't divulge their plans...so this is all "conjecture".