Steadfast Defender 24: NATO begins biggest military exercise in decades

With the departure of a US warship on Wednesday, NATO commenced its largest military drill since the end of the Cold War, crossing the Atlantic to reach alliance territory in Europe.

About 90,000 soldiers will participate in the months-long Steadfast Defender 24 exercise, which is intended to test the Western military alliance’s defenses against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via trans-Atlantic movement of forces from North America,” said General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

“Steadfast Defender 2024 will be a clear demonstration of our unity, strength, and determination to protect each other, our values and the rules-based international order.”

The goal of the exercise is to mimic how the 31-nation alliance might react to an assault by an adversary like Russia.

It will extend from North America to NATO’s eastern flank, near the Russian border, and consist of a number of smaller, independent drills.

There will be roughly 1,100 military vehicles, 80 aircraft, and about 50 naval vessels participating.

The largest exercise since the Cold War-era Reforger exercise in 1988 is taking place while NATO is revamping its defenses in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In order to defend itself against a Russian attack, the NATO alliance has sent thousands of troops to its eastern flank and developed the most comprehensive plans it has created since the fall of the Soviet Union.

(With agency inputs)