Rhino Titan: 600 British and French paratroopers drop over Germany in drill to defend NATO against drone-armed enemy

More than 2,500 British and French troops have taken part in Exercise Rhino Titan, a seven-week war game at the Sennelager training centre in Germany designed to show how NATO territory could be defended against a modern attack, the UK Ministry of Defence said, as reported by Sky News and the Guardian.

The drop

About 600 paratroopers jumped from four RAF A400M Atlas transport aircraft in one of the UK’s largest airborne operations in two decades. The MoD said it was the first time troops and specialist equipment had been brought together at this scale in low-altitude jumps. Three RAF Chinook helicopters also took part.

The enemy it simulated

The exercise tested the UK’s 16 Air Assault Brigade — its Global Response Force, held at very high readiness — against an enemy using drones and electronic warfare, the kind of technology Russia could be expected to deploy, Sky News wrote. Brigade commander Brigadier Ed Cartwright called it a realistic challenge reflecting the modern battlefield.

Context

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said 21st-century threats require “an updated, modern approach to warfare”. The drill comes amid heightened tension in Europe, with the Kremlin blamed for arson, sabotage and assassinations in European countries, and days after Paris said British jets had joined French aircraft in their first joint exercise involving France’s airborne nuclear capability.