At the Defense Contact Group meeting in Ukraine on June 16, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand announced that Canada would add a tank company to the multinational task force as part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) in Latvia.
As announced by the Canadian Ministry of Defence, 15 Leopard 2 A4M main battle tanks are to be moved to Ādaži, the base of the Canadian-led eFP Battlegroup. Tanks, including personnel, two armored recovery vehicles and logistics vehicles, support equipment, are scheduled to be transferred to Latvia from autumn 2023. The ministry expects a total of 50 vehicles. Full equipment, including 130 soldiers, should be available in the Battlegroup in the spring of 2024.
The eFP battlegroup in Latvia is one of four battlegroups that NATO deployed to NATO’s eastern border following the Warsaw Summit in 2016 in response to the annexation of Crimea. Germany is involved as a pilot nation in Lithuania. Nearly 2,000 soldiers from ten nations are involved in the Battlegroup in Ādaži. A doubling of staff and a corresponding adjustment of equipment is planned.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, four more battlegroups were established on NATO’s southeastern flank.
Editorial / gwh
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