NATO wants to mobilize around 90,000 soldiers for a major maneuver to deter Russia. The approximately four-month-long exercise called Steadfast Defender will be the defense alliance’s largest in decades, said the commander in chief of NATO forces in Europe, Christopher Cavoli, on Thursday after a meeting of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels.
According to the US general, preparations for the maneuvers should begin next week. The actual start is scheduled for February. The aim is to train in particular the alerting and deployment of national and multinational land forces.
Scenario: Russian attack
According to information from the German Press Agency, the scenario of the exercise is a Russian attack on Allied territory, which leads to the declaration of the so-called alliance case according to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. The latter regulates the obligation to provide assistance in the alliance and states that an armed attack against one or more allies is viewed as an attack against all.
Last major exercises before the dissolution of the USSR
The largest NATO exercise to date since the end of the Cold War was organized in 2018 with a focus on Norway. Around 51,000 soldiers were involved. The last NATO maneuvers that were larger than the exercise now planned took place before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. At that time there was, among other things, the “Return of Forces to Germany” series of maneuvers. In 1988, for example, around 125,000 soldiers were involved.
Germany is there
According to its own information, the German Bundeswehr will participate in Steadfast Defender with, among other things, a four-stage large-scale maneuver called Quadriga 2024. More than 12,000 soldiers are expected to be deployed by the end of May and, in particular, will be training skills for quickly deploying forces to NATO’s eastern flank. From mid-May, for example, the 10th Panzer Division will deploy soldiers with combat vehicles to Lithuania in various ways and demonstrate their fighting skills in a battle there.
Lithuania feels particularly at risk
The NATO state in the Baltics is one of the countries that feel particularly threatened by Russia because of their situation. People there fear that one day they could face a similar fate to the people in Ukraine, who have now been confronted with a Russian war of aggression for almost two years. Cavoli said on Thursday that the exercise would be a clear demonstration of the alliance’s cohesion, strength and determination to protect each other.
The training space at Steadfast Defender extends from Norway to countries such as Romania. According to the Bundeswehr, there will also be a maritime exercise component with the relocation of forces from North America to Europe.
More than 90,000 soldiers, dozens of fighter jets
In addition to around 90,000 soldiers, more than 1,000 combat vehicles and dozens of combat aircraft and naval units are expected to take part in the exercise. Specifically, the military names tanks, aircraft carriers and F-35 jets, among others.
In addition to Germany, Great Britain is also an important troop contributor for the exercise. The Ministry of Defense in London recently announced that around 20,000 British soldiers from the sea, air and land forces will take part.
