NATO launches largest military drill since the Cold War
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) on Wednesday began its biggest military drill since the Cold War with a US warship leaving the United States for transit across the Atlantic to alliance territory in Europe.
Steadfast Defender 2024 will witness the participation of around 90,000 troops from the United States and various NATO allied nations. The drills, scheduled to run until May, involve more than 50 naval vessels, ranging from aircraft carriers to destroyers.
Additionally, over 80 fighter jets, helicopters, and drones, along with a formidable arsenal of at least 1,100 combat vehicles, including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles, are set to be part of the exercise.
The primary objective of these maneuvers is to simulate NATO's execution of regional defense plans, marking the alliance's first comprehensive defense plans in decades. These plans outline the alliance's response to potential threats, with a focus on addressing the evolving security landscape, especially concerning the most significant and direct threat identified in NATO's strategic document – Russia.
While NATO did not explicitly name Russia in its announcement, the timing of the exercise is noteworthy, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which initiated the deadliest conflict on European soil in over seven decades.
Matthias Eichenlaub, a NATO spokesperson, took to Twitter to declare, "#NATO today launched its biggest military exercise since 1988 with 90,000 personnel taking part in drills across the North Atlantic and Europe."
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko characterized the scale of the Steadfast Defender 2024 exercises as an "irrevocable return" of NATO to Cold War strategies, emphasizing the geopolitical significance of the ongoing military maneuvers.
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