- ‘Steadfast Defender’ will run until the end of May and include units from all 31 NATO member states plus candidate member Sweden, NATO official said
NATO plans to mobilize 90,000 troops in its biggest military maneuver since the Cold War in a bid to deter Vladimir Putin.
The alliance announced the exercise would begin next week and will test for months the allies’ ability to engage in a conflict with an adversary as capable as Russia.
‘Steadfast Defender’ will run until the end of May and will include units from all 31 NATO member states plus candidate member Sweden, NATO Supreme Commander Europe, US General Christopher Cavoli, told journalists.
The war games are intended as a further show of strength for NATO and its commitment to defend all allied countries from attack.
“The Alliance will demonstrate its ability to strengthen the Euro-Atlantic area through a transatlantic movement of forces from North America,” the US general told reporters in Brussels after a two-day meeting of national defense chiefs.
NATO plans to mobilize 90,000 troops in its biggest military maneuver since the Cold War in a bid to deter Vladimir Putin. Pictured: British soldiers take part in a major exercise as part of the EFP NATO operation at the Estonian army camp Tapa near Rakvere, on February 6, 2022
Last week it was announced that Britain would send 20,000 troops with the Royal Navy’s two new aircraft carriers, eight warships and the RAF’s F-35 lightning attack aircraft, which will practice flying in simulated conflict scenarios.
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps announced the deployment on Monday.
The war games come after British ministers announced a new £2.5 billion aid package for Ukraine and the RAF’s joint US airstrikes on the Houthis in Yemen.
According to the German newspaper ImageGermany will send 12,000 soldiers, along with 3,000 vehicles and 30 aircraft.
Citing the German news agency Bild, Bild said the exercise will simulate a Russian attack on NATO territory, a scenario that would trigger Article 5. The article states that if a NATO country is attacked, all other alliance countries will mobilize to defend it.
Earlier this week, the chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, Admiral Bob Bauer, also said at a meeting of the 31-nation alliance’s top leadership in Brussels that Russian President Putin’s rationale for the war lies in fear of democracy. .
Bauer said NATO will continue to support Ukraine in the long term.
“Today is the 693rd day of what Russia thought would be a three-day war. “Ukraine will receive our support every day because the outcome of this war will determine the fate of the world,” he said.
“This war was never about a real security threat to Russia, coming from Ukraine or NATO,” Bauer added.
“This war is about Russia fearing something far more powerful than any physical weapon on earth: democracy. If people in Ukraine can have democratic rights, people in Russia will soon want them too.”
The largest NATO exercise since the Cold War took place in 2018 when around 51,000 troops were involved in ‘Trident Juncture 2018’ in Norway.
Germany is preparing for an attack by Vladimir Putin’s forces in 2025, according to leaked secret plans
The announcement of the NATO exercise comes after it became known that Germany is preparing for an attack by Putin’s forces on NATO in 2025.
Secret German Defense Ministry documents reveal a step-by-step doomsday guide to how Russia will escalate the conflict in Ukraine into all-out war in just 18 months.
The leaked plans, published by Imagereveal in detail the path to a Third World War, with Putin using Belarus as a launching pad for an invasion – as he did in February 2022 for his war in Ukraine.
The release of the chilling documents comes just days after Sweden’s Civil Defense Minister warned his country could soon face the prospect of war and urged citizens to join volunteer defense organizations in preparation for a Russian attack .