Explosive Footage of Real Military Exercises

Military exercises. They help keep armed forces ready for actual battle and they provide a show of force that's comforting to allies and menacing to enemies. And they make for some pretty cool video footage.

Check out the blasts and booms of real-life military maneuvers around the world. And unlike real footage, no one gets hurt.

Russian Invasion

Russia recently conducted exercises in the Caucasus region to reinforce its hold on Crimea. The show of force includes everything: Fighters, helicopters, attack boats, surface-to-air missiles, bombers, and destroyers. A few marines make it to shore and start firing as well. It looks like a real invasion, and implies Crimea will be under Russian control for some time.

Polish Army and NATO

...or will it? Here's NATO's response, a joint exercise with the Polish army. It only features ground forces, but the infantry and tank tactics are impressive.

US Army Tank, Howitzer, Bombing Response

Footage from The Fort Irwin National Training Center in California. These live-fire exercises include building a landing strip large enough for a C-17 cargo plane, attacking with tanks and howitzers, and rescuing victims of a roadside bombing.

US Army Urban Warfare

A lot of warfare doesn't take place in huge empty fields like Gettysburg anymore. These exercises in France train soldiers on eluding rooftop snipers, fighting around corners, firing up stairwells, and using an attack dog as a scout.

Sinking a Battleship

What's it like to sink a ship? This exercise shows "a submarine-launched harpoon and a follow-up missile strike from a frigate." Just two hits and the enemy ship lists, topples over, and vanishes beneath the waves.

Navy SEALs

This video is long, but it shows the SEALs in all three environments: Sea, air, and land. They're underwater, sneaking into some kind of access tunnel; they're crawling on the beach; they're jumping from a helicopter to assault a landing platform. Great footage from one of the world's elite fighting forces.