NATO is planning one of its largest maneuvers in years with the “Steadfast Defender” exercise starting in February. The scenario of the exercise is a Russian attack on Allied territory.
NATO wants to mobilize around 90,000 soldiers for a major maneuver to deter Russia. The DPA news agency learned this on the sidelines of a meeting of top military representatives of the defense alliance in Brussels. The exercise called “Steadfast Defender,” which begins in February, will be the military alliance’s largest since the end of the Cold War. In particular, the alerting and deployment of national and multinational land forces should be trained.
“Air Defender 2023”
Fighter jets over Germany: This is what the largest NATO air force exercise of all time looks like
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.
Largest NATO exercise since 2018
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.
For almost two years, Ukraine has been fending off an attack by Russia with massive military aid, especially from NATO countries.
Source: Stern
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