The training plan begins in 2018. However, it comes as fighting escalates at NATO’s doorstep in Ukraine, where Kiev’s forces, backed by weapons from Western allies, are training. central. attack to regain territory occupied by Russia since the invasion ordered by President Vladimir V. Putin last year.
Officials participating in the 25-nation NATO exercise say it sends a message of alliance unity.
“I would be quite surprised if any world leaders did not heed what this represents, in terms of the spirit of this alliance, meaning the strength of this alliance,” said Amy Gutmann, ambassador United States in Germany, told reporters last week. . “That includes Mr. Putin.”
The exercise, Air Defenders, is hosted by the German government and brings together the largest number of aircraft from outside Germany for training missions since NATO was founded in 1949. dispatched about 100 aircraft of the National Guard and Navy to Germany for exercises. Homeworks.
The 12-day event begins with an air show in Wunstorf, northern Germany, featuring cargo and refueling planes – specialized planes that play a vital role in transporting weapons gas and supplies for Ukraine. Pilots will perform other missions with fighter jets, ponies performing in the skies, at five other bases across Germany.
The exercise comes weeks after the United States reluctantly agreed to allow Ukrainian troops to continue training and ultimately achieved, American-made F-16 fighter jet — not only for the current conflict against Russia but as part of a long-term deterrence strategy.
Germany’s Air Force General Ingo Gerhartz, who is overseeing the Air Defender, said it was not “aimed at anyone” and stressed that no attack scenario would be carried out. “We are a defensive alliance, and so this exercise will be defensive in nature,” General Gerhartz told reporters in Berlin.
But General Gerhartz said that when he proposed the exercise, in 2018, “what struck me back then was Putin’s occupation of Crimea,” the Ukrainian peninsula, four years earlier. Since Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine last year, General Gerhartz said, allies on NATO’s eastern flank, closest to Russia, are demanding assurances that the alliance will protect them in the event of a Moscow attack. aggressive.
Twenty-four NATO countries — including Finland, the newest member of the alliance – is participating in the exercise and Japan has participated as an observer. Last month, officials in Japan said that NATO considers opening liaison office in this country in the context of Western countries increasingly concerned about China’s support for Russia. Such an office would be NATO’s first in Asia.
Douglas Barrie, a military aerospace expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank based in London, says one goal of Air Defenders is to examine how planes from so many countries are delivered. next to each other.
Mr. Barrie said cargo and fuel crews would be closely watched during the exercise because of their important role in conflicts, including in Ukraine. But mainly, he said, the exercises are part of a “signaling” campaign – letting Putin know what NATO is capable of unleashing against Russia, if necessary.
Even if the exercises were planned years in advance, Mr. Barrie said: “I would be surprised if the alliance did not see this as part of its overall messaging strategy.”
Military organizers have promised that the exercise will have little impact on civilian air traffic, as many sorties will take place over the North and Baltic Seas.
Lieutenant General Michael A. Loh, who directs the US National Air Force, said: “We anticipate minimal disruption to the flow of civilian airlines.
However, a German air traffic control association warned in May that the exercise could lead to “major” disruption.
Christopher F. Schuetze contribution report from Berlin.
