Pte Aapo Heikkilä, 20, who was part of Cpl Arkkilä’s tank crew, said the drill was invaluable. “We haven’t fought that much,” he said. “This was our first real battle, despite being here for days. But we have experienced what sort of real war is.”
He was also full of praise for British troops, adding: “They are all professional soldiers, so they really know their stuff well. That really helps when they’re on our side, but also we have to understand when they’re against us, they’re not just conscripts, they are real soldiers.”
More than 10,000 Finns were involved in the training, which also involved hundreds of British troops, as well as Army Wildcat helicopter teams.
For British personnel involved in Northern Star, it proved a stark reminder about the threat Moscow still poses, with defence chiefs fearing Russia could reconstitute its military by 2030 following its bloody losses in Ukraine.
Lt Col Dave Crosbie, of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said the exercise was about getting Nato troops ready to fight on terrain that is similar to that in Russia.
“Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it’s clear that Russia is the primary focus for the British Army,” he told The Telegraph shortly after British troops took part in an aerial assault drill with American, Italian and Polish troops.
“We’re close to the Russian border at the moment, so the ground that we’re seeing is very similar to one in which we are likely to fight in the future.”
During the war game, British troops took part in a series of mock air assaults alongside other Nato allies, deploying from two Chinook helicopters. The drill was designed to test how elite allied units could work together.