 | Russian helicopters staged explosive exercises, destroying maritime targets in the already tense Baltic region, where the U.S. began its own multinational war games just one day earlier. The Russian military deployed 10 Kamov KA-27 antisubmarine warfare helicopters from the naval aviation branch of its Baltic Fleet to participate in bombing a simulated hostile submarine off the coast of Kaliningrad, an exclave of Russian territory situated between Lithuania and Poland. Both countries, along with Latvia and Estonia, are part of the U.S.-led military alliance NATO, which launched a regional exercise called Tobruq Legacy 2017. |
 Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) | The day before, Russia and China conducted live-fire drills in the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, respectively, in preparation for joint war games to be held later this month. Tobruq Legacy 2017 mostly involves Surface-Based Air-Defense (SBAD) forces from the U.S., the Czech Republic and Slovakia |  |
 | The U.S. also reportedly installed Patriot long-range anti-aircraft missiles in Lithuania, the first time the U.S. has deployed such a weapons system in the Baltics. |
