Estonian Scouts Practice Jumping Out of Black Hawks
Estonian Defense Forces were involved for the first time in an airborne landing drill using Black Hawk helicopters from the American units in the country.
ETV characterized the exercise, held on the largely uninhabited Pakri island area near Paldiski, as noisy, with live fire heard.
"Currently troops from the 173rd Airborne Regiment are practicing an assault operation with a platoon of the Scouts Battalion," said the battalion's operational NCO, Senior Warrant Officer Urmas Lichtfeldt.
For the American unit, helicopter-based operations are everyday business, while for the Estonian infantry platoon, alighting from the Black Hawk UH-60 is a new challenge, Lichtfeldt said.
The UH-60, a twin-engine helicopter with dozens of variants, has been workhorse of the US Army since its introduction in 1979.