Exercise Black Eagle is a significant demonstration of the UK’s support to the region, as the UK continues to play a leading role in delivering NATO’s measures to reassure eastern allies.

Troops from the UK have engaged in a series of exercises on eastern allied territory, the largest of which is Exercise Black Eagle, where around 1,300 troops will train with their Polish counterparts from 10th Armoured Brigade.

Speaking at the visit the Defence Secretary said:

I think it’s important for NATO forces to be seen to exercise together. We are stepping up the scale of these exercises, so there are more of them, they are more continuous, they are of a larger scale and they involve more and more forces from across NATO.

That’s what’s important. To show that NATO members are working together to carry out their responsibilities to defend each other from any kind of aggression.

Members of the King’s Royal Hussars and 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh met the Defence Secretary to demonstrate the vehicles and equipment they will operate on Exercise Black Eagle.

The Defence Secretary said:

There is huge enthusiasm here for the task that they are being sent on. This is one of the most important allied exercises for years which will help reassure and demonstrate our commitment to our eastern allies. That’s what they train for, and that is what they are ready for.

Lieutenant Colonel Justin Kingsford, commanding officer of the King’s Royal Hussars, said:

This was a great opportunity to show the capabilities and readiness of this battle group. Most soldiers in my battle group returned from Afghanistan about 2 years ago, so in many ways our very intense training in Canada was the culmination of 2 years’ worth of getting back onto these complex armoured vehicles.

Although we are still committed in Afghanistan, there are significant parts of the Army concentrating on contingency operations, like training for conventional war in armoured vehicles, and we are looking forward to getting out to Poland to train alongside the Polish 10th Armoured Brigade.

The King’s Royal Hussars make up a large part of the deploying battle group alongside 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh. Over 100 armoured vehicles and 250 other vehicles will make up the deployment, including vehicles such as the Challenger 2 main battle tank and the Warrior armoured fighting vehicle.

Alongside these exercises, the UK is currently providing Sentry E3-D aircraft to NATO’s Baltic air policing mission and between May and August deployed 4 Typhoons to support the mission. The UK also participated in BALTOPS, a major allied maritime exercise in the Baltic.

During his speech, Mr Hammond looked back on where MOD was 4 years ago and the efforts that have been made to transform Defence into a ‘disciplined department with a clear sense of direction’.

Mr Hammond talked about the efforts MOD has made to effect this change; one of the biggest transformation programmes ever undertaken in the western world.

He spoke of making tough decisions to get the budget under control, retiring long-running capabilities, making cuts to armed forces manpower and overhauling the infrastructure and equipment organisations:

We have balanced the books by taking a hard-headed approach to what we can and cannot afford.

We’ve published a balanced and deliverable equipment plan, something the government has not done before, giving everyone within Defence greater transparency and greater certainty to be able to plan for the future.

The need for a leaner, more strategic workforce was also stressed in Mr Hammond’s speech.

The objective of having the right people in place and fewer people doing a better job were part of the foundations of his argument that MOD is now running in a more businesslike manner.

Making reference to accountability and responsibility in terms of maintaining a stable budget he said:

We chose to delegate budgets downwards to the front line commanders. People now have a vested interest in knowing both the cost and the value of what they are doing. Now they are responsible for managing their multi-billion-pound businesses.

And it has paid off. We only commit when we’re sure we can afford not just the capital cost but the year-on-year running costs as well.

Decisions like whether we invest more in simulation by reducing live flying hours should clearly be taken by the RAF and not by politicians in Whitehall. Already, this devolution of power from the centre has paid dividends in promoting a culture of initiative.

Towards the end of his speech he spoke of the current imperative ‘to institutionalise innovation throughout the organisation’, describing it as ‘the lifeblood for reform’.

He emphasised that it was being achieved by empowering people with clear objectives on what they must deliver but with flexibility about how they deliver it.

Mr Hammond concluded his speech by saying that he was proud of what has been achieved so far but reiterated that there is still work to be done.