NATO Drills in Latvia Fail to Show Unity as Alliance Faces 'Comms & Disparate Arms Kinks'

Launched in early 2024, NATO’s biggest military drills since the Cold War have spanned locations across Germany, Poland, and the Baltic countries. Held under the pretext of practicing repelling "aggression" by Moscow against allies in Russia's direct vicinity, they have been denounced by the Kremlin as undermining security in Europe.

NATO troops from 14 nations held drills against mock invaders in the woods outside the Latvian capital Riga in March, The Wall Street Journal reported.

However, the massive exercise to fend off the fictional enemy “Occacus” was plagued by language barriers, communications problems, and NATO weaponry compatibility issues.

It is an easy guess that implied under the "invading nation" was Russia, even though it was never mentioned outright.

A battalion led by Latvian Army Lt. Col. Gaidis Landratovs operated alongside US troops during the exercise. In line with the simulated scenario, enemy forces crossed Latvia’s border with Russia and were heading towards the capital. The enemy forces had identifying red X marks on their equipment.

“What’s most important is to demonstrate readiness to act quickly and deploy to defend Latvian and NATO borders,” Latvian Army Col. Oskars Kudlis was cited as saying.

However, the troops had to communicate in a spate of different languages over different kinds of radios, as well as coordinate disparate weapons systems and battlefield practices, the outlet noted.

The differences in language, communications systems, and weaponry within NATO have purportedly become a challenge now that “preparing for coalition warfare is once again NATO’s priority.”

An inherent part of the Steadfast Defender 2024 drills, exercise Crystal Arrow 24 took place across the Adazi and Kadaga area, capping three months of intense training by Forward Presence Battlegroup Latvia to prepare for NATO’s Combat Readiness. The exercise challenged the multinational battlegroup to defend the territory of Latvia against the actions of an opposing "enemy force."

The drills in Latvia were among several staged near the EU border with Russia, alongside exercises in Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia.

“The integration of all the countries is a challenge,” Canadian Army Lt. Col. Jonathan Cox, who helped lead Exercise Crystal Arrow, was cited as saying.

Screenshot of X post on official account of Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) Brunssum.

© Photo : NATOJFCBS

NATO, which was recently joined by Finland and Sweden, is plagued by disputes, the publication added. European members of the alliance have started splurging more on defense, and will jointly meet their financial commitment to the alliance, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. But Issues such as whether Ukraine should be allowed to join the alliance, military budgeting levels, and the contest to succeed Stoltenberg have all bred soaring acrimony, the outlet claimed.

An agreement on Ukraine's membership in NATO is not expected at the alliance's summit in Washington this summer, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier in April.

Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern about the alliance's buildup of forces in Europe and the unprecedented NATO activity near its western borders in recent years. The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that Moscow remains open to dialogue with NATO, but on an equal footing, while the West should abandon its policy of militarizing the continent.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that NATO's expansion to include Ukraine would create a direct national security threat to Russia and that Moscow considers the non-aligned status of Ukraine to be extremely important to put an end to the years-long conflict. Kiev's plans to join the bloc were among the reasons why Russia launched its special military operation in February 2022.

Steadfast Defender 2024: What to know About NATO’s Biggest Drills Since Cold War

🔸The Western alliance has kicked off the active phase of its Steadfast Defender military exercises.

🔸Over 90,000 troops from all 31 NATO countries plus Sweden (which is expected to join the… pic.twitter.com/UFW397I0Gz

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) February 1, 2024

As for NATO's military exercise, Steadfast Defender 2024, raises the risk of unintended military confrontation and undermines security in Europe, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Sputnik earlier in the year. He added that "European security is of little concern to the top NATO command, which is too busy trying to keep this tool of US influence relevant in the already lost war for the West's global dominance."

Russia would not be intimidated by what the senior diplomat described as a provocative show of force. He said his country has everything it needs to ensure its security and defense capabilities.

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev described the NATO drills as preparation for new wars.

"The joint drills of NATO armed forces in Europe called Steadfast Defender 2024, during which the scenario of armed confrontation with Russia is being worked out, will certainly increase tensions and destabilize the situation in the world," Patrushev said.