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IRON SPEAR 2025 recently took place at the Ādaži Training Ground in Latvia, bringing together NATO armoured crews from across the Alliance to compete in a series of live-fire and tactical challenges as crews from nine NATO Allies went head-to-head in a tank competition. The event tested tank crews on gunnery accuracy, crew coordination, and combat readiness under simulated operational conditions.
NATO Allies Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom participated, with crews operating main battle tanks such as the Leopard 2 and Challenger 2. The competition served both as a training opportunity and a demonstration of NATO’s interoperability and collective defence capabilities on its eastern flank. IRON SPEAR took place from 28 April – 3 May 2025.
[© NATO Multimedia]
This NATO Multimedia footage, filmed 30 April and released this week, includes various shots of the different tanks and crews in the field as they manoeuvre and fire at the Ādaži Training Ground in Latvia, and soundbites by Lieutenant Colonel Darryn Gray, Commander of the NATO multinational brigade Latvia.
Shot list:-
00:00 ~ Canadian Leopard 2 tanks manoeuvring and firing during the competition
00:32 ~ German Leopard 2 tanks manoeuvring and firing during the competition
00:53 ~ French AMX-10RC manoeuvring and firing during the competition
01:01 ~ Italian Centauro vehicles manoeuvring and firing during the competition
01:23 ~ Canadian leopard 2 tanks manoeuvring
01:58 ~ Canadian tanks arrive back to training area after taking part in competition
02:07 ~ Polish Leopard 2 tanks move through training area
02:16 ~ Norwegian Leopard 2 tanks manoeuvring and firing during the competition
02:54 ~ British Army Challenger 2 tanks manoeuvring and firing during the competition
04:05 ~ French crew prepare and load ammunition into AMX-10RC
04:31 ~ French AMX-10RC fires during the competition
04:34 ~ German Leopard 2 tank moves through training area
04:52 ~ Swedish Leopard 2 tanks taking part in the competition
05:06 ~ Soundbite: Lieutenant Colonel Darryn Gray – Commander, NATO Multinational Brigade Latvia
05:24 ~ Soundbite: Lieutenant Colonel Darryn Gray
05:49 ~ Soundbite: Lieutenant Colonel Darryn Gray
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