In preparation for a potential conflict with a “near-peer” adversary, NATO is conducting its biggest exercise since the end of the Cold War. The exercise will practise how US troops could support European allies in countries that border Russia and on the alliance’s eastern flank.
According to the alliance’s top commander Chris Cavoli, about 90,000 troops are scheduled to participate in the Steadfast Defender 2024 drills, which will take place through May.
According to NATO, there will be at least 1,100 combat vehicles, including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles, along with more than 80 fighter jets, helicopters, and drones and more than 50 ships, ranging from destroyers to aircraft carriers.
Cavoli stated that the exercises would practise how NATO would carry out its regional plans, which are the organization’s initial defence plans it made in decades. The plans imbibe the alliance’s response to a Russian offence.
Russia was not specifically mentioned by NATO in its statement. However, its most important strategic document names Russia as the biggest direct threat to the security of NATO members.
“Steadfast Defender 2024 will demonstrate NATO’s ability to rapidly deploy forces from North America and other parts of the alliance to reinforce the defence of Europe,” said NATO.
Cavoli informed reporters in Brussels that the reinforcement would take place during a “simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary” following a two-day gathering of national chiefs of defence.
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