TALLINN – Hundreds of tanks, self-propelled howitzers and other military vehicles have been offloaded in the German port of Bremerhaven since Friday after arriving in Germany by sea from the United States, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported.
This is the biggest delivery of a U.S. armored tank brigade to Europe since the end of the Cold War, and over the coming days the military equipment will be sent by train from Germany to bases in Poland and the Baltic states, according to the BBC.
To that end the Bundeswehr will need over 900 railcars and platforms, Deutsche Welle said. The total length of rolling stock with military equipment will be around 14 kilometers.
Also to arrive in Germany are 3,500 U.S. troops from the 4th Infantry Division from the Fort Carson base in Colorado.
In addition, this year the U.S., Britain, Germany and Canada will send four battalions, 4,000 troops in total, each to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
The deployment of NATO forces in Eastern Europe is part of the North-Atlantic alliance’s program aimed at deterring a possible Russian aggression.
Russia has repeatedly criticized the enlargement of NATO presence in Eastern Europe.
U.S. troops will be stationed in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, as well as Bulgaria and Hungary.
Initially it was assumed that U.S. troops would arrive in Europe at the end of January, but the outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama sped up the process.
