Prince William takes a ride in a tank as he visits troops in Estonia & thanks them for helping British Army

PRINCE William stormed through a military base in tanks and artillery vehicles today in a show of strength against Russia right on Putin's doorstep.

The Prince of Wales also observed field training in the trenches with soldiers firing blanks and throwing white smoke grenades to obscure enemy view.

The Prince presided over the official handover ceremony of British troops from the Royal Dragoon Guards to his own regiment.

As part of the visit, William donned his camouflage uniform and was driven around in a tank.

Then, he jumped from the turret before being briefed about a field training exercise.

He then got into a warrior infantry fighting vehicle which took him to the trenches in ice-cold temperatures of around three degrees.

The prince’s vehicle was the last of three to arrive at the scene where soldiers from the Merican battlegroup were undertaking an exercise to spot and break into an enemy trench before capturing “high-value target”; enemy troops.

As the first two Warrior vehicles arrived on the scene after spotting the trench, they opened fire on the enemy base with machine guns.

The first soldiers were already firing machine guns from the vehicles into the trench as William arrived, travelling in the commander’s turret of the third and final warrior vehicle to give him an “eagle-eye view”; of the exercise as he arrived.

Standing above the trench, William had the scene explained to him by Major McNeil as gunfire sounded and smoke occasionally blocked the view of the troops.

With the royal standard flying alongside flags of Nato members, the prince was shown a selection of military vehicles including an Archer, a Challenger 2, a Warrior, a French Griffon, an MLRS and a Trojan, on Tapa’s parade square.

Accompanied on the parade square by the Estonian commander Colonel Tarmo Kundla and Lt Col General Sir Ian Cave, he then spoke to groups of soldiers positioned next to each vehicle.

Speaking to soldiers stationed with the Archer, William asked: “How is it to drive?

“I might have a go later.”;

He also asked the group: “Is this your first time in Estonia?

“Well good luck, I hope it all goes really well.”;

At the Warrior vehicle, after asking the soldiers about their upcoming operational exercises, he said of his visit to the base: “Hopefully this provides a bit of interest for you all and what you’re doing and keeps everyone on their toes.”;

Inspecting the French Griffon “infantry fighting vehicle”;, William spoke to a group of French soldiers who also serve alongside British troops at Tapa.

“It’s good to have such an international partnership,”; he told them.

The Prince even played pool and table football with soldiers stationed at Camp Tapa.

William took over the role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Mercians in 2023, previously held by his father.

William’s visit to Tapa was intended to highlight the role of British troops in Operation Cabrit, which involves around 900 soldiers stationed as part of Nato’s defence of the eastern flank.

Operation Cabrit is the UK’s biggest international operational deployment.

Yesterday, the Prince was given yellow and blue armbands by Ukrainian refugee children he met in Estonia

He even joined in with classes and a game of basketball at the Freedom School – a school set up for refugee children.

He said that the people he met were “very strong, very smiley and very spiritual people”; with “good souls”;.

William's visit comes just as tensions between Russia and Europe deepen.

The EU has announced a landmark spending plan to boost defence, worth up to $867 billion, as Keir Starmer pours money into the UK army.

The Prime Minister announced in February 2025 that an extra £13 billion a year would be spent on defence from 2027.

Speaking about his decision, Keir Starmer said: “Unless Ukraine is properly protected from Putin then Europe will only become more unstable — and that will hurt us even more.

“So today I have announced the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War.