Silver Arrow, biggest military drills of year, begin in Latvia

Running until October 29, Silver Bullet 2017 will take place not only in the main Ādaži military training area but also in the, Ape, Gulbene and Aluksne districts of northern Latvia.

In total more than 3,500 soldiers from Albania, USA, Estonia, Italy, Canada, Latvia, Great Britain, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and Germany will participate. 

In addition approximately 200 Latvian national guardsmen and 30 reserve soldiers will attend the training alongside the full-timers to improve their skills.

Training exercises will range across private land in agreement with landowners in agreed areas and members of the public are asked to keep a cool head and cooperate if they spot personnel and equipment on the move.

"The aim of the training is to improve the cooperation of the National Armed Forces with its Allies, as well as to train the units' ability to plan and implement defense operations with integrated elements on the battlefield," according to the Defense Ministry.

Simultaneously with the Silver Arrow 2017 exercise, the National Armed Forces "Mobilization Training 2017", for the training of reserve soldiers and the "Little Namejs 2017" training cycle of the national guard will also take place.

Silver Bullet was originally a national training event, but since 2014 has grown into a much larger international drill involving a wide range of NATO allies and other partner countries.