NATO is gearing up for its largest military drills since the end of the Cold War, with 90,000 troops expected to take part in the Western security alliance’s exercise across Europe next week.
The military drill, called Steadfast Defender 24, will begin next week and run until May, with all 31 nations in the alliance participating in the exercise. Sweden, a candidate for NATO that has yet to be ratified to accession, will also participate.
Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander of U.S. Europe Command and supreme allied commander Europe for NATO, said the alliance needs to “rehearse and refine our plans through rigorous training and exercises.”
“The alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via trans-Atlantic movement of forces from North America,” Cavoli said in a press briefing Thursday. “This reinforcement will occur during a simulated emerging conflict scenario against a near-peer adversary.”
“Steadfast Defender 2024 will be a clear demonstration of our unity, strength, and determination to protect each other, our values and the rules based international order.”
The exercise is expected to include the mobilization of warships and other naval assets, along with ground-based vehicles and aircraft, including F-35s, FA-18s, harriers, F-15s, helicopters and drones.
While the large-scale deployment is part of regular NATO drills, it comes nearly two years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and amid heightened alert in Europe that the war will expand.
The deployment of tens of thousands of troops is expected to send a message to Moscow and other adversaries that the alliance is prepared to defend its borders.
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NATO mobilizing for biggest military exercise since Cold War https://t.co/OeblYOpY03 pic.twitter.com/h4dXY0Cobg
— The Hill (@thehill) January 19, 2024
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