Don't be alarmed if you happen to notice a significant increase in military activity on the seas and in the air around Ayrshire over the next two weeks.
Rest assured it's not an invasion as the first Exercise Joint Warrior of 2017 gets underway this weekend and will last until April 6th. The largest military exercise in Europe will be taking over the Clyde to give the UK, allies and partner nations to practice skills needed on the modern battlefield. Joint Warrior will see 35 naval units taking part from Denmark, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US. On land will be 16 Air Assault Brigade Headquarters and the associated Battle Group, 2 PARA, will join troops from the Netherlands, Sweden and the US. Many of the warships involved will be gathering at the Clyde base and at Glasgow’s King George V dock ahead of the exercise. HMS Gannet at Prestwick, as well as RAF Lossiemouth, will host aircraft during the fortnight with around 34 fixed wing and 18 rotary wing aircraft from France, Germany, the UK and US participating. The exercise will provide participants the opportunity to practice the vital skills needed on the modern battlefield. Skills including maritime task force training, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, mine counter measures training, maritime security operations, close air support, intelligence gathering, electronic warfare training, and GPS denial operations will all be practised. If you are visiting the coast to get a closer look at this military exercise please don't take any risks trying to get photographs and always check weather and tide times. Article: Ardrossan Coastguard & Rescue team