More than 2,500 British and French service personnel completed training in Germany as part of Exercise RHINO TITAN — one of the largest British airborne operations in recent decades.
The seven-week exercise took place at the Sennelager training area. It involved the British 16 Air Assault Brigade working alongside French units. Germany, as the host nation, provided logistical support.
A key phase of the exercise was the airborne insertion of around 600 British and French paratroopers. They jumped from four Royal Air Force A400M Atlas transport aircraft in several waves. The UK Ministry of Defence described the operation as one of the largest British airborne deployments in recent times.
Exercise RHINO TITAN was designed to test the ability of the two nations’ forces to operate against a simulated enemy equipped with drones and electronic warfare capabilities. The scenario focused on defending NATO territory in the conditions of modern warfare.
Brigadier Ed Cartwright, Commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said:
“We have been given a realistic challenge to defend NATO territory and pitted against an enemy using drones and electronic warfare, which is what we would face on the modern battlefield.”
UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting noted that the threats of the 21st century require a modern approach to warfare, and that the joint exercise demonstrates the allies’ ability to rapidly deploy large-scale airborne power wherever it is needed to defend NATO territory.
The drills take place against the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine and NATO’s heightened focus on readiness to counter modern threats, including drones and electronic warfare.
