Germany prepares to host biggest NATO air deployment exercise
The 11 days of exercises will take place amid heightened tensions with Russia as the war in Ukraine escalates.
Germany is preparing to host one of the largest air exercises in NATO’s history, in an effort to show off violence designed to impress allies and adversaries like Russia, according to German and US officials in the country .
The Air Defender 23 exercise will take place from June 12 to 23 and will see 10,000 participants and 250 aircraft from 25 countries train to respond to a simulated attack on a NATO member state.
“This is an exercise that would be absolutely impressive to anyone watching, and we’re not forcing anyone to watch it,” US Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann told reporters in Berlin, highlighting that an audience could see Russian President Vladimir Putin could be.
“It will undoubtedly demonstrate the agility and speed of our allied force in NATO as a first responder,” she added.
Although the exercise had been planned for years, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year shook NATO members and increased efforts to expand and strengthen the military alliance.
Sweden, which wants to join NATO, and Japan will also participate in the exercise.
“We are showing that the NATO area is our red line, that we are prepared to defend every inch of this area,” said Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz of the German Air Force, who is coordinating the exercise. ‘But we are not going to operate any flights to Kaliningrad, for example. So this is meant defensively.”
Kaliningrad is a Russian exclave located on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania.
Lieutenant General Michael A Loh, director of the US Air National Guard, said the exercise goes beyond deterrence.
“It’s about the preparedness of our armed forces. It is about coordination, not only within NATO, but also with our other allies and partners outside NATO,” he said.
Three air exercise areas will be used for two to four hours a day, according to the German air command.
But for security reasons they say that the airspace will be closed to civil airlines during these time windows, which in turn could disrupt some passenger flights to and from Europe.