Exercise HEDGEHOG 2018 (“SIIL”)
- Altogether up to 15,500 members of the Estonian Defence Forces and Defence League together with Allies take part in the exercise. Police and Border Guard Board and Rescue Board will also participate in the exercise.
- The main focus of HEDGEHOG 2018 is to exercise territorial defence both in the conventional and asymmetrical warfare.
- HEDGEHOG 2018 will also include an additional OKAS (“QUILL”) reserve exercise for defence readiness for up to 223 reservists from 92nd Air Surveillance Wing that will take place on 3-6 May 2018.
- HEDGEHOG 2018 is divided into four phases:
- I phase (2-4 May) – increasing readiness of the participating units;
- II phase (4-7 May) – collective training in line with the comprehensive national defence concept;
- III phase (8-12 May) – battle training;
- IV phase (13-14 May) – closure of the exercise.
VIENNA DOCUMENT observation of HEDGEHOG 2018 (04-07 May 2018)
- Arms control plays an important role in increasing international security and building mutual trust.
- Estonia considers the conventional arms control instruments and confidence and security building measures like the Open Skies Treaty and the Vienna Document to be of significant importance.
- Estonia adheres to these agreements, because they reflect our values and increase reciprocal transparency and confidence.
- According to the Vienna Document, every participating state is required to report its biggest annual exercise for the following calendar year.
- In the spirit and in the letter of the Vienna Document, Estonia has informed all OSCE participating states of HEDGEHOG 2018 and has extended invitations for observation of the exercise, as the notifiable military activities exceed 13,000 troops.
- Altogether 31 observers from 15 OSCE participating states and NATO will participate in the observation program taking place 4-7 May 2018 in Estonia (Belarus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Ukraine and the United States).
- Estonia also invited observers to the first HEDGEHOG exercise in 2015, whereby the observers unanimously commended Estonia’s full transparency and adherence to confidence and security building measures.