VILNIUS, December 2. /TASS/. A two-week exercise codenamed Pikne (Lightning) involving NATO troops begins in Estonia on Monday, Postimees reported.

"The aim of the exercise is to practice the rapid deployment of reinforcements and cooperation between French, British, and Estonian forces. The French Armed Forces will carry out a rapid deployment operation to Estonia by air and on land, followed by joint maneuvers with British and Estonian forces in the air and at sea to practice the activities prescribed in our plans," the news portal quoted Estonian Major General Indrek Sirel, who is responsible for training events, as saying.

The maneuvers will involve some 2,000 troops from Great Britain, Latvia, the United States, France, and Estonia, mostly taking place in the latter’s northern and northeastern areas. Units from the Estonian land, air, and naval forces and NATO’s battlegroup in the former Soviet republic will participate.

The North Atlantic Alliance’s units will practice mechanisms of deploying forces to a potential conflict zone as they will focus on integrating those into the bloc’s battlegroup in Estonia to repel threats from land as well as aerial and naval ones.

On November 30, Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported that six warships from Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) visited the Estonian capital.