NATO launches Simple Strike drills near Riga

Simple Strike 2015 military exercises have kicked off on the Ādaži landfill and in the area of Ogre region, near Riga, the Defense Ministry of Latvia told an EADaily correspondent. The drills that will end on September 4 will involve 200 soldiers from the Armed Forces of Latvia, Lithuania, and the United States.

The main task of the exercises is “improvement of effective interaction of units to use the abilities of the fire support specialists and the interaction between the elements of land and air forces.” The Defense Ministry of Latvia had informed the population beforehand that the manpower will be moving along the public roads and aircraft and helicopters will be flying at low altitudes.

Simple Strike 2015 will give a start to a series of military exercises of NATO in the territory of the region. On September 14-29, Latvia will be hosting Silver Arrow 2015 exercises that along with Latvians will involve more than 1000 officers from Denmark, Canada, Germany, USA, and UK.  The Latvian Defense Ministry said exercises will help improve the interaction of the NATO countries, upgrade the combat efficiency of the conventional armed forces in the defensive and offensive operations, and boost military cooperation.