Nato forces have taken over a disused platform at London's Charing Cross Tube station to simulate launching 'deep strike' operations against Russia in the event of an attack on a member state. The UK-led Nato Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) moved its military capability underground as part of Operation Arrcade Strike, testing electronic warfare to jam Russian communications and down drones.
Defence sources said the UK only has enough drones to fight for a week, using a few hundred a day, far below the thousands per day used in Ukraine. US General Christopher Donahue, head of Nato's Land Command, warned from the platform that Nato has little time to prepare, stating: 'Mission-ready by 2030 is not a slogan, it is what we must do.'
British ARRC commander Lieutenant General Mike Elviss said the exercise rehearses Nato's 'recce-strike' model to find and destroy Russian forces. He noted Russia's advantages in massing combat power and initial momentum, adding: 'We rehearse this not just to be good at it, but because the adversary is watching, and we want him to know that we are ready for the challenge.'
The exercise comes as Vladimir Putin conducted nuclear drills in Belarus and after two Russian jets flew within 20ft of an RAF aircraft over the Black Sea. Gurkha engineers set up a command centre on the Jubilee line platform, capable of overseeing 100,000 troops in extremis. Simultaneously, British and Nato forces are involved in Operation Spring Storm in Estonia to prepare for a potential Russian invasion of the Baltic states.
