Paratroopers, ground campaigns and armadas pushing Putin out of Europe… NATO plans reveal epic Steadfast Defender war games
NATO has unveiled plans for its largest military exercises since the end of the Cold War, with 32 countries preparing for a Russian attack.
Steadfast defender 2024 is now underway across thousands of miles of Europe, as armadas, fighter jet fleets and 90,000 troops conduct land, sea, air, cyber and space operations.
9
9
9
9
In a sobering moment NATO During today's briefing, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Brigadier General Gunnar Bruegner, said the “clock is ticking”.
Without mentioning Russia by name, he said NATO must prove that it is “ready” for any threat to its security.
“Every exercise matters. The big picture is deterrence,” the military chief added.
Bruegner's comments come amid a wave of recent warnings from top military chiefs and policymakers about the threat of large-scale war with Russia the coming years.
And so it is fitting that NATO begins its largest military exercises in decades – based on its 'new defense plans' for Europe.
Alliance members will rehearse how U.S. forces can reinforce European allies on the alliance's eastern flank if a conflict flares up with a “nearly equal” opponent.
Around 20,000 British troops will join their key allies in the war exercises which will continue until May. This will involve 31 alliance members and NATO candidate Sweden.
The Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers and eight warships will also be sent to conduct and test conflict scenarios in naval exercises called “Joint Warrior”.
US paratroopers will later rush into Eastern Europe as part of the 'Swift Response' exercise, while thousands of troops will wage battles over Poland and the Baltic states for 'Dragon-24'.
More than 50 ships, from aircraft carriers to destroyers, will participate, as well as more than 80 fighter jets, helicopters and drones and at least 1,100 combat vehicles, including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles.
The plan behind Steadfast Defender 2024 (STDE24) is to “advance readiness at the strategic, operational and tactical levels,” Brigadier General Bruegner said.
He added: “The sheer scale and ambition of this exercise will show us where we stand and how we need to adapt.”
One that will send a 'clear message within and outside the military [alliance] that we are ready!”
It's a chance to do “stress testing from top to bottom,” Bruegner said.
“This is how we prepare, emphasize this with troops on the ground and build capacity for deterrence.”
Last week The Sun joined crack Royal Marines train for war with Russia at their new polar base Camp Viking in Norway.
We dove into the frozen outpost aboard a Commando Force Merlin helicopter before roaring across icy plains on camouflaged snowmobiles.
The elite commando force will help lead Britain's ground operations during Steadfast Defender.
Speaking to The Sun at the Arctic base, Armed Forces Secretary James Heappey explained that if NATO went to war with Russia, Britain would take the lead role fighting in Arctic conditions, which are the toughest in the world.
The planned war games will be carried out close to Russia's borders, in key areas including the Baltic states, and close to the new borders Flash point WW3the Suwalki Gorge.
The more than 100-kilometre-long Polish-Lithuanian corridor – which connects Belarus with Russia's western enclave of Kaliningrad – has been called NATO's 'weakest link' amid fears it will become a future battlefield for a war between Russia and NATO.
For the West it is the only land connection with the three ex-Soviet Baltic republics – Lithuania, Latvia And Estonia – which would remain vulnerable to Putin if the West lost control of the rift.
Last weekend, a damning new report detailed how The British army is not prepared for an outright war with Russia.
The “overloaded” British Armed Forces would last only a “few months” and are “well below the level needed to confidently counter a US threat Russian army”, MPs warned.
9
9
9
9
