Ambitious Goals Set for This Year’s “Brave Warrior” International Military Exercise

One of the biggest international exercises of the year, “Brave Warrior 2024,” is taking place between May 6 and 17 in Hungary. The event brings together troops from several NATO member states and partner nations to test military cooperation and coordination between the different branches of the armed forces in real-life situations.

“The essence of such large-scale exercises is to achieve the full spectrum of application capabilities during the training,” Major István Böjti, Deputy Commander of the Forward Land Forces Battle Group, briefly summarized the objectives of the current exercise. These capabilities include chemical defense and covert security, reconnaissance, live-fire maneuver, and logistical operations, all of which are practiced by representatives of the participating nations in the Bakony mountain range (Transdanubia), writes honvedelem.hu.

The NATO Forward Land Forces Battle Group, made up of Italian, American, Croatian, and Hungarian sub-units, assembled at Bakony on May 6 to prepare for the Combat Readiness Evaluation (CREVAL) over the next two weeks.

“According to NATO’s standardized assessment system, units will be assessed for readiness to deploy in a live situation on a 72-hour operational time-frame in English. It is not just about training, as personnel, logistics, and other tasks are all taken into account,” said Major Böjti. The foreign troops arrived prepared at the Central Firing and Training Range of the Hungarian Defense Forces, with soldiers from each nation already at home to start training smaller, and then larger units. When they reached deployment readiness, they arrived in Hungary, with the exception of the Turkish contingent, who were undertaking readiness tasks at home.

“NATO forces are of course exercising on the basis of a defensive tasking system, they are not exercising offensive tasks.

It includes logistics and communications, even involving civilian actors, so non-kinetic procedures. For instance, chemical protection under Hungarian command is part of the overall training,”

the Deputy Commander summarized the main elements of the training.

Last week, the gunners practiced chemical de-mining as part of the integration. “The peculiarity of this case is that the Panzerhaubitze 2000s are taking part in such an exercise for the first time. But we are also testing the Blauer-type protective suits, which are not yet in regular use in the Defense Forces,” said Lieutenant Balázs Váczi, acting reconnaissance platoon commander of the Hungarian Defense Forces 102nd CBRN Regiment. The NATO exercise will therefore focus on force development, which means not only acquiring equipment but also testing new procedures.

“We are constantly learning from the war in our neighborhood, adapting and trying to develop the most effective procedures. Of course, we are doing this with the help of fresh equipment of the renewed Hungarian Defense Forces, including Leopard tanks, Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled guns, and drones of the reconnaissance platoon,” explained Major Böjti.

On the fourth day of the Brave Warrior 2024-I multinational exercise, the Italian rifle squadron of the NATO Forward Land Forces Battle Group conducted live firing with a Centauro armored reconnaissance vehicle, FH-70 155mm towed gun turret, 120 mm heavy mortar, and an Iveco LMV infantry fighting vehicle. In the afternoon, the Hungarians and the Carl Gustaf M4 grenade launcher took center stage, as the troops continue to prepare for the CREVAL exercise.

Via honvedelem.hu, Featured image: honvedelem.hu