October 18-29, EOD specialist teams of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Juozas Vitkus Engineer Battalion, Special Operations Forces and the Lithuanian Navy EOD Divers Team are training in Iceland in what is known as one of the largest and most complex EOD training events in the world with particularly high standards, multinational Exercise Northern Challenge 2021.
Exercise Northern Challenge scenario gradually increases the complexity of tasks for the participants. Simulated round the clock, it reflects the IED trends brought into focus by situations in the hotspots across the globe in the recent year. According to an exercise participant, combat engineer Captain Domas Laukaitis, the particularly adverse weather conditions in Iceland present one of the main challenges. “25m/s wind speed, dampness, rain and low temperatures turn simple tasks into a struggle. However, we have demonstrated we were a reliable team from the first tasks, and the extremely experienced U.S. EOD specialists conducting the assessment had plenty of praise for it at the hot-wash.”
The Icelandic Coast Guard-hosted Exercise Northern Challenge improves readiness to expeditiously respond to incidents involving standard explosive ordnance and improvised explosive devices. This year the exercise training audience numbers to approx. 300 EOD specialists from 15 countries.
Photo credits: Lithuanian Armed Forces
