Two US Tanks Roll into Bulgaria

A pair of M1A2 Abrams battle tanks have arrived in Bulgaria by plane, the country's Defense Ministry has said.

The vehicles, flown into Bulgaria from the American Rammstein Air Base in Germany, are due to take part in the Power Shock drill at the Novo Selo military ground near Sliven.

The exercises is part of NATO's war games unfolding in Eastern Europe to reassert allies on support against what it calls prospective "Russian aggression" in the reigon. Tensions between Russia and the West started to soar after Moscow incorporated the Crimean Peninsula last year and allegedly started inciting unrest in Ukraine's Donbass region.

Bulgaria --M1A2 Abrams Battle Tanks to Bulgaria for training and exercises: http://t.co/e8v3X1O5fj #AlliedStrong pic.twitter.com/vhyfAtOWvJ

? US Mission to NATO (@USNATO) June 21, 2015

US Capt Randy Ready told the NBC on Saturday that Power Shock is aimed at testing "the ability to rapidly deploy our forces".

The latest developments come after NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Philip Breedlove said in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung last week that the alliance was planning to deploy 250 tanks in Eastern Europe, including Bulgaria and five other states.