VILNIUS, September 5. /TASS/. The Iron Fist military exercise, organized by the United States European Command, will cover Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland.

The Lithuanian army command announced the start of the drills.

"The main task of the exercise is to practice the swift redeployment of American units from permanent bases and preparations for combat operations on NATO’s eastern flank," the military agency said in a statement.

In Lithuania, the Iron Fist exercise is part of the country’s army drills dubbed Perkunas Thunder, with 17,000 troops participating. Military hardware will be redeployed from Poland to Lithuania via highways.

About 20 American AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters will be stationed in Lithuania for the duration of the drills.