Thousands of Sailors and Royal Marines have been in action on land, in the air and at sea, during a joint exercise with Albania.
UK military personnel joined Albanian forces for Exercise Albanian Lion, part of the Royal Navy’s annual deployment of a crisis-focused amphibious task group, the Joint Expeditionary Force Maritime 16 (JEF(M)16).
JEF(M)16 demonstrates the ability the UK has to deploy highly effective maritime forces at short notice, anywhere in the world, during its deployment, the maritime Task Group will be joined by further Royal Navy warships and partner nations.
In addition to exercises, the UK has over 3,000 military personnel deployed on operations around the world, underlining Britain’s global military footprint.
Albanian Lion is part of a series of demanding exercises in the Adriatic and the Gulf, reinforcing the UK’s relationships with allies and ensuring that the task group is ready to respond if called upon.
Albanian Lion, which was taking place for the fifth time, included 250 Albanian Armed Forces personnel and follows Defence Secretary Michael Fallon’s visit to Tirana to reaffirm the UK’s commitment to work side-by-side with Albania.
He said: “The contribution of maritime forces as well as two Royal Navy warships underlines the UK’s strength at sea and our strong defence partnership with Albania.
“In Tirana last week I reinforced the UK’s commitment to work with Albania to meet security challenges in the Balkans.”
Commodore Andrew Burns, Commander Amphibious Task Group (COMATG), said: “I continue to be hugely impressed by the ingenuity, resilience and professional dedication shown by every sailor, marine, soldier and airman under my command in meeting the objectives for this deployment.”
HMS Bulwark’s commanding officer, Captain James Parkin, said: “Albanian Lion has been a challenging and fascinating test of the nation’s amphibious ability, in a realistic environment, and again proved the flexibility and utility of this vital war-winning capability.”
Albanian troops recently participated in Exercise Venerable Gauntlet in Germany, which brought together 3,000 troops from 14 NATO nations in another major exercise before the UK takes its leading role in the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force in 2017.
Image: Exercise Albanian Lion. Crown Copyright.
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Albania Albanian Lion Exercise Venerable Gauntlet JEF(M)16 Joint expeditionary Force Maritime 16 maritime Michael Fallon UK
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