Thousands of soldiers from Poland, the US and the UK began on Monday the “Niedźwiedź 22” (“Bear 22”) joint military exercises in eastern Poland.

Major Przemyslaw Lipczyński, spokesman for Poland’s 18th Mechanised Division, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that the drills are to include, among other things, “live firing by armoured units” drawn from the three countries.

For ?? soldiers #Niedźwiedź22 is the opportunity to prove themselves as it is aimed at gaining @Zelazna_Dywizja NATO certification. The time of “maturity test” for #19BZ #18PLog has come. #CREVAL is an evaluation of unit's combat readiness and its adherence to the NATO standards. https://t.co/tAWzgCmIzV

— Poland MOD ?? (@Poland_MOD) September 19, 2022
Polish Leopard, US Abrams and British Challenger tanks will conduct fire together, the spokesman said, with the goal of “strengthening interoperability and allied cooperation.”

Exercise #Niedźwiedź22 is starting up. During the maneuvers we will cooperate with allies. The Polish ??, American ?? and British ?? tanks will conduct live fire at the training area in Nowa Dęba. We are increasing interoperability.

We are #StrongerTogether! pic.twitter.com/H5XTsFBzeb

— 18 Dywizja Zmechanizowana (@Zelazna_Dywizja) September 19, 2022
However, according to him, “the main goal of “Niedźwiedź 22” is for the 19th Mechanised Brigade in Lublin and the 18th Logistics Regiment in Łomża to acquire NATO’s CREVAL certification.

The formation of the units, which are both part of the 18th Mechanised Division, started three years ago. The CREVAL certificate confirms that a unit is capable of operating according to the Alliance’s standards of combat readiness.

The joint manoeuvres are scheduled to conclude on Friday.