NATO prepares unprecedented air exercise in show of force to Russia

BERLIN — Germany is preparing to host the biggest air deployment exercise in NATO’s history, a show of force intended to impress allies and potential adversaries such as Russia, German and American officials said Wednesday.

The Air Defender 23 exercise starting next week will see 10,000 participants and 250 aircraft from 25 nations respond to a simulated attack on a NATO member country. The United States alone is sending 2,000 U.S. Air National Guard personnel and about 100 aircraft to take part in the June 12-23 training maneuvers.

“This is an exercise that would be absolutely impressive to anybody who’s watching, and we don’t make anybody watch it,” U.S. Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann said.

“It will demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt the agility and the swiftness of our allied force in NATO as a first responder,” she told reporters in Berlin.

“I would be pretty surprised if any world leader was not taking note of what this shows in terms of the spirit of this alliance, which means the strength of this alliance,” Gutmann said.

“And that includes Mr. Putin,” she added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

While the drill was planned for several years, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 ear has jolted NATO into preparing in earnest for the possibility of an attack on its territory. Sweden, which is hoping to join the alliance, and Japan are also taking part in the exercise.

“We are showing that NATO territory is our red line, that we are prepared to defend every centimeter of this territory,” said Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz of the German air force, which is coordinating the exercise. “But we won’t, for example, conduct any flights toward Kalinigrad. So this is intended to be defensive.”

Kalinigrad is a Russian exclave located on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania.

Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh, director of the U.S. Air National Guard, said the exercise goes beyond deterrence.

“It’s about the readiness of our force. It’s about coordination, not just within NATO, but with our other allies and partners outside of NATO,” he said.

Loh said the exercise would be an opportunity for younger U.S. airmen, many of whom have mainly gotten experience serving in the Middle East, to build relationships with allies in Europe and prepare for a different military scenario.

“So this is about now establishing what it means to go against a great power, in a great power competition,” he said.

Authorities have said the drill will cause some disruption to civilian flights in Europe during the period.

柏林——德国和美国官员周三表示，德国正准备举办北约历史上规模最大的空中部署演习，这是一次旨在给盟友和俄罗斯等潜在对手留下深刻印象的武力展示。

下周开始的“空中卫士23”演习将有来自25个国家的1万名人员和250架飞机参加，模拟应对对北约成员国的攻击。仅美国就将派出2000名美国空中国民警卫队人员和约100架飞机参加6月12日至23日的训练演习。

“任何观看的人都会对这次演习印象深刻，但我们不会强迫任何人观看，”美国驻德国大使艾米·古特曼说。

“这将毫无疑问地展现北约盟军作为第一响应者的敏捷性和迅速性，”她在柏林对记者说。

古特曼说：“如果任何一位世界领导人没有注意到这所展现的联盟精神，也就是联盟的力量，我会感到非常惊讶。”

“这其中也包括普京先生，”她补充道，指的是俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京。

虽然此次演习筹划已久，但俄罗斯在2022年2月入侵乌克兰，促使北约开始认真准备应对其领土可能遭受的攻击。希望加入北约的瑞典和日本也参加了此次演习。

“我们表明，北约领土是我们的红线，我们准备捍卫这片领土的每一寸土地，”负责协调此次演习的德国空军中将英戈·格哈茨说道。“但我们不会进行任何飞往加里宁格勒方向的飞行。因此，这次演习的目的是防御性的。”

加里宁格勒是位于波罗的海沿岸、波兰和立陶宛之间的俄罗斯飞地。

美国空军国民警卫队司令迈克尔·A·洛中将表示，此次演习的意义远不止于威慑。

他说：“这关乎我们部队的战备状态。这关乎协调，不仅是北约内部的协调，还有与我们在北约以外的其他盟友和伙伴的协调。”

洛表示，此次演习将为年轻的美国空军人员提供一个机会，让他们（其中许多人主要在中东地区服役）与欧洲盟友建立联系，并为不同的军事场景做好准备。

他说：“所以，现在我们要讨论的是，在大国竞争中，与大国对抗意味着什么。”

当局表示，演习期间将对欧洲的民用航班造成一定程度的干扰。