Danish Defence Forces Armoured Personnel Vehicles and Equipments Arrive in Estonia

A transport ship, carrying Piranha V armoured personnel vehicles and other equipment for the Danish Defence Forces docked in Paldiski harbour this morning, marking the return of Danish forces to the enhanced Forward Presence/NATO Battlegroup in Estonia. Next week, Danish troops from the Viking Company; a part of the Jutland Dragoon Regiment, will arrive to Amari airbase and deploy to Tapa. There they will become a part of the UK-led NATO Battlegroup and integrate with the Estonian 1st Brigade.

The Danish Royal Army’s Viking Company of about 150 troops will formally replace the French 5e Dragons Regiment as the additional element in the NATO Battlegroup in Tapa. Another 70 Danish troops will serve in logistics and as military police officers. The Viking Company consists of three mechanized infantry platoons with Piranha V armoured personnel carriers, logistical detachment, a sniper section and a forward-based Fire Observer team, able to call for indirect fires.

“The Danish Defence Forces have been a part of NATO’s Battlegroup here in Estonia since 2018. The last contingent left in March 2021, and now we are returning, thereby reaffirming our commitment to the NATO Battlegroup, the deterrence of any adversaries and to the defence of Estonia,” says Major Michael Krogsgaard, Denmark’s Senior National Representative to the NATO mission in Estonia. “I know that the Danish soldiers and officers are highly motivated and very much looking forward to training and serving here in Estonia with our colleagues from the Estonian 1st Brigade as well as the British and French troops.”

At the Warsaw Summit in June 2016, the leaders of NATO’s 28 members decided to deploy NATO battlegroups to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland due to the changed security environment. The leading country of the NATO Battlegroup in Estonia is the United Kingdom, with France and Denmark as contributing countries. Iceland also contributes to the mission. The first battle group arrived in Tapa in April 2017. In 2020 and 2018, about 200 Danish soldiers were deployed to Estonia as part of NATO’s multinational force of about 4,000 soldiers in Poland and the Baltic countries. The Danish force consisted of an armored infantry company with support functions.