13e DBLE, 1er REC, 1er REG: 2023 Mission Lynx in Estonia

See some nice pictures from Estonia, a Baltic state located in Northeastern Europe, where are currently deployed legionnaires from three French Foreign Legion regiments: the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade (13e DBLE), the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC), and the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG). There, they serve alongside Great Britain’s The Queen’s Royal Hussars (QRH).

In the aftermath of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO adopted a series of measures designed to both reassure those allies who border Russia – like Estonia – and to deter any potential Russian military aggression against NATO allies. In 2016 NATO agreed to establish an “enhanced Forward Presence” (eFP) in Poland and the three Baltic states, in the form of a multinational battlegroup in each country; they were set up in 2017. The United Kingdom leads the battlegroup in Estonia, which now comprises over 1,000 personnel from the U.K., France and Denmark, with support from Iceland. The U.K. units are rotating every six months, while French units rotate every four months.

In mid-March 2023, the battlegroup changed personnel and welcomed new contingents which arrived from the U.K. and France. The latter sent units of the 6th Light Armored Brigade: a company of the 13e DBLE with 18 Griffon vehicles (motorized infantry), a peloton of the 1er REC with three AMX 10 RCR armored fighting vehicles (mechanized cavalry), and an engineering platoon of the 1er REG. They are supported by an artillery platoon of the 3e RAMa (Marine Artillery). They have to train and adapt to the terrain in Estonia and learn how to operate on NATO’s Eastern flank.