NATO holds its biggest exercises in decades, involving 90K personnel

BRUSSELS — NATO will launch its biggest military exercises in decades next week with around 90,000 personnel set to take part in months of drills aimed at showing the alliance can defend all of its territory up to its border with Russia, top officers said Thursday.

The exercises come as Russia’s war on Ukraine bogs down. NATO as an organization is not directly involved in the conflict, except to supply Kyiv with non-lethal support, although many member countries send weapons and ammunition individually or in groups, and provide military training.

In the months before President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022, NATO began beefing up security on its eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine. It’s the alliance’s biggest buildup since the Cold War. The war games are meant to deter Russia from targeting a member country.

The exercises – dubbed Steadfast Defender 24 – “will show that NATO can conduct and sustain complex multi-domain operations over several months, across thousands of kilometers (miles), from the High North to Central and Eastern Europe, and in any condition,” the 31-nation organization said.

Troops will be moving to and through Europe until the end of May in what NATO describes as “a simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary.” Under NATO’s new defense plans, its chief adversaries are Russia and terrorist organizations.

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

Cavoli said it will demonstrate “our unity, our strength, and our determination to protect each other.”

The chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said that it’s “a record number of troops that we can bring to bear and have an exercise within that size, across the alliance, across the ocean from the U.S. to Europe.”

Bauer described it as “a big change” compared to troop numbers exercising just a year ago. Sweden, which is expected to join NATO this year, will also take part.

U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has said that the government in London would send 20,000 troops backed by advanced fighter jets, surveillance planes, warships and submarines, with many being deployed in eastern Europe from February to June.

布鲁塞尔——北约高级官员周四表示，北约将于下周启动数十年来规模最大的军事演习，约有9万名人员将参加为期数月的演习，旨在表明该联盟能够保卫其所有领土，直至与俄罗斯接壤的边界。

此次演习正值俄罗斯对乌克兰的战争陷入僵局之际。北约作为一个组织并未直接参与冲突，只是向基辅提供非致命性支持，尽管许多成员国单独或成组地提供武器弹药，并提供军事训练。

在俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京于2022年2月下令俄军入侵乌克兰之前的几个月里，北约开始加强其东部与俄罗斯和乌克兰接壤地区的安全部署。这是自冷战以来北约规模最大的军事集结。这些军事演习旨在阻止俄罗斯将成员国作为攻击目标。

北约表示，此次名为“坚定捍卫者 24”的演习“将表明，北约能够在数月内，跨越数千公里（英里），从高北地区到中欧和东欧，在任何条件下，开展和维持复杂的多域行动”。

在北约所称的“与势均力敌的对手进行模拟新兴冲突演习”中，部队将在欧洲境内及周边地区部署至5月底。根据北约新的防御计划，其主要对手是俄罗斯和恐怖组织。

北约最高盟军司令、美国将军克里斯托弗·卡沃利告诉记者：“北约将通过从北美跨大西洋调动兵力，展示其加强欧洲-大西洋地区的能力。”

卡沃利表示，这将展现“我们的团结、我们的力量以及我们互相保护的决心”。

北约军事委员会主席罗布·鲍尔海军上将表示，“这是我们能够调动的创纪录数量的部队，并且能够在如此大规模的范围内，跨越整个联盟，从美国到欧洲，举行一次演习。”

鲍尔称，与一年前参加演习的部队人数相比，这是一个“巨大的变化”。预计将于今年加入北约的瑞典也将参加此次演习。

英国国防大臣格兰特·沙普斯表示，伦敦政府将派遣 2 万名士兵，并配备先进的战斗机、侦察机、军舰和潜艇，其中许多部队将于 2​​ 月至 6 月部署在东欧。