UK sends hundreds of army vehicles into Romania ahead of military exercise
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Hundreds of army vehicles from the UK have been deployed to Romania as part of a Nato exercise. A total of 730 vehicles have been sent for the first deployment of Nato’s Allied Reaction Force. The vehicles left from ferries at the Sea Mounting Centre in Marchwood, Hampshire, bound for the Greek port Alexandroupoli.
![[EMBARGOED TO 0001 FRIDAY JANUARY 17 A member of the Royal Logistic Corps looks at rows of vehicles, ahead of them being loaded onto sealift ship, MV Hurst Point, at The Sea Mounting Centre in Marchwood, Hampshire, ahead of their deployment to Romania with members of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and the 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland for Exercise Steadfast Dart, NATO's foremost military exercise of 2025. The two regiments will form the principal battlegroup and be supported by an array of other UK and allied military units. Picture date: Thursday January 16, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236179568-3ced.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
This has been carried out ahead of Exercise Steadfast Dart 25 – which is aimed at showcasing Nato’s ability to mobilise at speed across Europe. Alongside the army vehicles, a total of 2,434 UK personnel will travel by truck and plane to Romania. Nato vehicles and troops will travel by different methods for the 2,300km journey to and from Romania, such as by sea, land and rail, to test Nato’s ability to deploy under pressure.
![[EMBARGOED TO 0001 FRIDAY JANUARY 17 A member of the Royal Logistic Corps inspects a row of Foxhound patrol vehicles ahead of them being loaded onto sealift ship, MV Hurst Point, at The Sea Mounting Centre in Marchwood, Hampshire, ahead of their deployment to Romania with members of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and the 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland for Exercise Steadfast Dart, NATO's foremost military exercise of 2025. The two regiments will form the principal battlegroup and be supported by an array of other UK and allied military units. Picture date: Thursday January 16, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236179596-a917.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
This exercise marks the first deployment under the bloc’s new Allied Reaction Force (ARF). It replaced the Nato Response Force last year to deal ‘swiftly and effectively’ with ‘any threat in an evolving security environment’ during peacetime, crisis and conflict.
The aim is to practice a major deployment of land, sea and air forces across Europe. This will be followed by the troops joining with the Romanian armed forces for the country’s annual defence exercise. Colonel Jim Beere said: ‘This is significant for the UK, as this is the first ever time the Allied Reaction Force has deployed and the UK is providing the land component command which means we are providing the army – or land – component to that.
