Gallery: Joint NATO-Estonian combat diving exercises ongoing in Tallinn Bay
Estonian combat engineer divers and their NATO counterparts from the British-led battlegroup are engaged in a joint training exercise in Tallinn Bay this week, including sonar search capabilities.
On Tuesday, the personnel rehearsed dives using a mock torpedo, with communications equipment and sonar, military spokespersons told BNS.
On Wednesday, the divers are on exercise off Aegna island, close to a shipwreck, BNS says.
A spokesperson from the British contingent said the exercise is an excellent opportunity to train with Estonian colleagues, making a contribution to improving each other's diving capabilities.
He praised the Estonian Navy's (Eesti merevägi) sonar search capability in particular, noting a change of scenery was a boon too.
"In Estonia we are based mostly in Tapa, hence working with allies at Mine Harbor in Tallinn is a nice change," the officer, named as Lt S. Bishop, said.
1st Lt. Priit Kaasikmäe, commander of the Estonian Navy's group, said that the dives made by Estonian and NATO combat engineer divers ranged between10 and 30 meters in depth, adding that reaching specific coordinates underwater, and identifying various objects, were part of the exercises.
26 Engineer Regiment of the British Army's Corps of Royal Engineers, nicknamed the Sappers, part of the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) battlegroup currently deployed in Tapa, east of Tallinn, boasts diver teams capable of supporting allies in underwater construction works at a depth of up to 42 meters, with equipment, according to BNS.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
