Multinational joint military exercise starts in Lapland

A major international military exercise began in Sodankylä, northern Finland on Wednesday. About 800 soldiers and 200 vehicles are taking part in the maneuver.

Most of the troops are from the Finnish Defense Forces. Besides, about 100 soldiers from the U.S. and Norway, as well as four Norwegian CV90 combat tanks, are also participating.

"From the U.S., there are around 70 people from a National Guard Engineer Company and around 10 Marines, along with a Norwegian infantry fighting vehicle detachments of about 20 people," Petri Sipilä, Lieutenant Colonel from the Finnish Defense Forces, was quoted by Finnish national broadcaster Yle as saying.

According to Sipilå, during the first three days the exercise will include testing communications equipment and practicing the use of English. The schedule in the next week will be a five-day combat exercise.

The military exercise named Bold Quest 19.1 is hosted by Finland this year. It is a multinational joint fires interoperability demonstration and assessment event sponsored and facilitated by the United States Joint Staff.

As part of the larger Bold Quest event being held in various parts of Finland over the next two weeks, the Riekko 19 field training exercise led by the Jaeger Brigade of the Finnish Defense Forces is held from Wednesday through next Friday in the Finnish Lapland.

A total of some 2,200 people will participate in the Bold Quest event, involving troops from 14 countries. This is the third time Bold Quest event is arranged outside the U.S.

Most of the countries in the Bold Quest coalition are in North America and Europe, and it also includes Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates.