NATO will hold the largest military exercise since the Cold War on its eastern flank next year to practice repelling a Russian attack, the Financial Times reports.
The Steadfast Defender exercise will start in the spring of next year and is expected to involve up to 700 air combat missions, more than 50 ships, and about 41,000 troops, NATO officials said.
The drill will take place across Germany, Poland, and the Baltics in February and March and is part of a new training strategy that will see the military alliance carry out two big exercises every year, instead of one.
Sweden, whose NATO bid is yet to be ratified by Turkey and Hungary, will also participate in the exercise, bringing the total number of nations involved to 32.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in June last year that the alliance would increase its number of high-readiness forces from 40,000 to “well over 300,000”.
NATO leaders agreed at the Vilnius summit in July to new regional defence plans and the creation of the so-called Allied Reaction Force, a multinational force able to respond rapidly to threats.
Exercises are also seen as a key part of demonstrating to Moscow that the alliance is prepared to fight, NATO officials said.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
