“NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force drills in Lithuania in the times of the pandemic once again proves the fortitude of allied commitments. In the face of threats from the East we stand convinced that NATO will act quickly and decisively in case of a crisis,” Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis said at Distinguished Visitors and Media Day of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, VJTF, exercise Brilliant Jump 2020. Minister also met with Commander Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum General Jörg Vollmer and other representatives of NATO commands and the Polish Armed Forces.
Minister R. Karoblis also thanked the Allies for the strong resolve and fulfilment of commitments and underscored that the VJTF exercise demonstrated that NATO remained a strong and reliable military alliance even amidst the pandemic.
One of the biggest NATO exercises held in the region this year, Exercise Brilliant Jump 2020, takes place on October 29 – November 6 place in Lithuania’s territory. The training event involves nearly 2.000 soldiers and approx. 650 military vehicles of different types of Czech, Polish and Spanish units on standby for the VJTF Land Component, for the first time deployed in Lithuania his year.
NATO Exercise Brilliant Jump 2020 has been planned well in advance, it tests the ability of the VJTF to redeploy quickly and integrate NATO forces to strengthen deterrence and readiness to act together in crisis or conflict.
The NATO Response Force is formed by capabilities contributed by NATO allies. The capabilities are selected by NATO experts in accordance with their level of preparedness and the need. The NRF is composed of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), the Initial Follow-On Forces Group (IFFG), and Follow-On Forces Group (FFG), according to their readiness level. The core of the VJTF is formed by French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, British, and Turkish forces.
Lithuanian soldiers serve in their homebases during the standby periods for international rapid response units. The rapid response units maintain high readiness to deploy to the area of assignment within a set time in case a decision is made to use the international rapid response force in an operation.
Photo credits: Rugilė Katinaitė
