NATO’s multinational battlegroup in Poland rolls out the heavy armour for a live-fire exercise.
Synopsis
NATO’s multinational battlegroup in Poland rolls out the heavy armour for a live-fire exercise.
A combination of battle tanks, scout vehicles and anti-aircraft platforms from Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States rolled out to the live-fire range at Bemowo Piskie Training Area near the Suwałki Gap for a combined arms exercise from 15 to 20 July 2025. While NATO soldiers train with simulated fire or blank ammunition most of the time, live-fire exercises allow them to practise complex battle drills under more realistic conditions.
The US-led battlegroup has guarded Poland since it stood up in 2017, following a decision by NATO Allies at the 2016 Warsaw Summit to install battlegroups in the Baltic region and Poland in response to the increased instability and insecurity along NATO’s periphery. In 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Allies decided to place additional battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.
Footage includes shots of Romanian, UK and US armoured tanks and fighting vehicles manoeuvring over muddy terrain plus soundbites from Lieutenant Colonel William Branch, Commander, NATO’s multinational battlegroup in Poland.
Transcript
---SHOTLIST—
(00:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – US BRADLEY INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLES MANOEUVRE OVER MUDDY AND WET TERRAIN
(00:35) MEDIUM SHOT – US BRADLEY INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLE, BEARING RED CROSS, MANOEUVRES OVER MUDDY TERRAIN
(00:42) VARIOUS SHOTS – BRITISH ARMY JACKAL ARMOURED VEHICLES DRIVING ALONG TRACK TOWARDS CROSS SECTION AND SPLIT IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS
(00:58) VARIOUS SHOTS – BRITISH ARMY SOLDIER ATOP STATIONARY JACKAL, BEFORE FIRING TOP GUN, JACKAL DRIVES OFF
(01:14) VARIOUS WIDE SHOTS – SMOKE FILLS THE LANDSCAPE AND COVERS STATIONARY BRITISH ARMY JACKALS ON GRASSY TERRAIN
(01:26) VRIOUS SHOTS – BRITISH ARMY JACKAL MOVES INTO POSITION, SOLDIER MANNING TOP GUN
(01:38) VARIOUS SHOTS – BRITISH ARMY JACKALS MANOEUVRE OVER MUDDY TRACKS
(01:53) VARIOUS SHOTS – A GROUP OF US M1A2 ABRAMS TANKS MANOEUVRE OVER MUDDY TRACKS
(02:38) CLOSE SHOT – NATO BATTLEGROUP FLAG FLYING ATOP US M1A2 ABRAMS TANK
(02:46) VARIOUS SHOTS – ABRAMS TANKS FIRING THEIR GUNS
(03:12) MEDIUM SLOW-MO SHOT (no sound) – US BRADLEY FIGHTING VEHICLE FIRING ON RANGE
(03:23) VARIOUS GO PRO SHOTS – ABRAMS TANKS FIRING
(03:39) MEDIUM SHOT - US BRADLEY FIGHTING VEHICLE MANOEUVRES OVER MUDDY AND WET TERRAIN
(03:45) VARIOUS SHOTS – US VEHICLES ON THE MOVE
(03:53) LONG WIDE SHOT – TWO ROMANIAN GEPARD ANTI-AIRCRAFT VEHICLES MANOEUVRE OVER MUDDY AND WET TERRAIN
(03:59) VARIOUS MEDIUM SHOTS – STATIONARY ROMANIAN GEPARD ANTI-AIRCRAFT VEHICLE RAISES ITS RADAR AND BEGINS ARTILLERY FIRE
[00:04:30] SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) LIEUTENANT COLONEL WILLIAM BRANCH, COMMANDER, NATO MULTINATIONAL BATTLEGROUP POLAND
“Given the things that are taking place in Ukraine, what's demonstrated is that the sovereignty of the eastern NATO nations is at threat. And so given that that is a reality that we live in, it's important for us to have a combat-credible force that's forward to guarantee the sovereignty of those nations that are there potentially in harm's way”.
[00:04:50] SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) LIEUTENANT COLONEL WILLIAM BRANCH, COMMANDER, NATO MULTINATIONAL BATTLEGROUP POLAND
“Poland is in a particular position where we are at the southern end of the Baltic defence line, which consists of the Baltic nations and Poland. This is very significant as it relates to our positioning to certain adversarial countries, and in particularly the Suwałki Corridor for us. And so by us, holding down the southern end of that defence line, enables us to provide the protection for NATO's eastern flank”.
[00:05:17] SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) LIEUTENANT COLONEL WILLIAM BRANCH, COMMANDER, NATO MULTINATIONAL BATTLEGROUP POLAND
“This region is of particular importance for the Alliance because of the famous Suwałki Corridor, right. So this is a corridor that connects Russia and Belarus to the Kaliningrad Oblast. And so, it's important for us to protect this particular corridor because this connects Poland with Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. And so, by us being here and present in this particular area, we demonstrate that, you know, we will maintain a forward presence, we will establish deterrence. Most importantly, we will create space to allow for our Allies to continue to build their defences, become stronger, become more collective in our ability to be able to defend into the future.”
[00:05:58] SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) LIEUTENANT COLONEL WILLIAM BRANCH, COMMANDER, NATO MULTINATIONAL BATTLEGROUP POLAND
“U.S. Company CALFLEX is a culminating exercise for our companies that enable them to understand the fundamentals of combined arms manoeuvre. It consists of units that are manoeuvring on the ground, the echelon of fires, such as indirect fires from mortars, field artillery and direct fires, as well as close air support. To enable them to understand how they bring all of those things together to achieve an effect on the battlefield”.
[00:06:20] SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) LIEUTENANT COLONEL WILLIAM BRANCH, COMMANDER, NATO MULTINATIONAL BATTLEGROUP POLAND
“It's us incorporating elements of our UK reconnaissance company, our Romanian air defence battery and bringing those elements in in a tactical situation to enable and understand how they work with us in that type of scenario that mimics what we would do in times of crisis or conflict”.
[00:06:37] SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) LIEUTENANT COLONEL WILLIAM BRANCH, COMMANDER, NATO MULTINATIONAL BATTLEGROUP POLAND
“Our training enables us to heighten our lethality, to build interoperability, but most importantly, it helps us to understand where are the places that we need to innovate. For example, we see in the contemporary operating environment, there's a large use of drones and so we have to do things like modify the way that we clear bunkers or clear trenches, using that technology to enable us to be successful, but most importantly, implement those lessons learned from the contemporary operating environment and spread that knowledge across our multinational partners so that collectively we can be better at conducting an operation.“
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