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Royal Navy’s fast boats demonstrate international resolve in Estonia
9 October 2025
Four of the smallest vessels in the Royal Navy demonstrated UK support for and resolve to safeguard Estonia with a joint workout in the Baltic.
Four fast attack craft of the Coastal Forces Squadron have been operating in the Gulf of Finland and Tallinn Bay in particular on the latest stage of a two-month mission to the Baltic region.
The four P2000 boats – HMS Pursuer and Express, based in Plymouth, HMS Puncher and Dasher from Portsmouth – were placed under Estonian command to test the ability of both navies to work seamlessly together.
For now the joint training focused on basic combined manoeuvres and direction as EML Ugandi (the former Royal Navy minehunter HMS Bridport which was sold to our Baltic allies back in 2009) took charge, and served as ‘mother ship’ to the Brits, proving she could provide mid-ocean support to the highly-manoeuvrable P2000 craft.
“It was great to operate alongside the EML Ugandi and meet the ship’s company today. In so doing, we demonstrated the UK’s resolve to support our NATO allies,” said Lieutenant Edward Winter, HMS Express’ Commanding Officer.
The link-up comes with tensions in the region particularly high following the recent incursion by three armed Russian MiG fighters into Estonian/NATO airspace just a fortnight ago.
Today we see more violations of Estonia’s sovereignty. Exercises such as this demonstrate our continued – and deep – commitment to Estonia, both as a partner nation and NATO ally
Major Steven Maguire, the UK’s deputy defence attaché in Tallinn, said as a long-standing ally of the small Baltic state, the joint naval exercise underlined the UK’s ongoing support for Estonia, wider regional security and international alliances.
“Just over 100 years ago the Royal Navy stood shoulder to shoulder with Estonia in its war of independence and that support has never wavered,” he stressed.
The training off Tallinn – which has hosted the British naval force for the past few days – is the latest of a series of smaller exercises under the banner of the much larger Tarassis.
Spread across a vast area (Norway, Latvia, Finland and the eastern Baltic) and embracing operations by land, sea and air and spanning September until the end of this month, Exercise Tarassis is the most ambitious live activity by the Joint Expeditionary Force since it was established over a decade ago.
It is not confined to the Baltic – or even just the sea. Thousands of troops, sailors and aircrew, and dozens of ships and aircraft are committed across the North Atlantic, Scandinavia as well as the eastern Baltic.
JEF is formed by a coalition of nations committed to the safety, security and prosperity of northern European waters, in particular the Scandinavian-Baltic region.
The four P2000s, which typically don’t spend more than a day at sea at a time, have travelled more than 1,500 miles so far since leaving their home bases to participate in Tarassis.
Already, it has seen them practise offensive and defensive fast boat and swarm tactics with the Latvian Navy and coast guard.