NATO's largest air exercise, Air Defender 23, has begun in Europe in recent years, Bloomberg reports . They are attended by 10 thousand soldiers and 250 aircraft from more than 20 member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance.
They were planned in 2018 in response to Russia's annexation of Ukrainian Crimea and were intended to show the strength of the organization. The exercises will involve four German air bases, as well as one Czech and one Dutch.
In addition to the NATO member countries, the partners of the alliance, Japan and Sweden, also take part in them. Michael Law, director of the US Air National Guard , speaks of the changing strategic landscape in the world and especially in Europe, and that many NATO pilots will be working together in the air for the first time. At the same time, German General Ingo Gerhartz emphasizes that the exercises are not directed against any particular country.
At the end of May, NATO conducted the Arctic Challenge exercise in the Norwegian Sea with the involvement of the armed forces of 14 Western countries, including Norway, Finland and Sweden. Approximately 3 thousand soldiers and 150 aircraft took part in them.
The NATO document of June 2022 characterizes Russia as the main threat to the security of the member countries of the alliance, as well as to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region. In addition, it speaks of China's defiance of Western interests, security and values and its desire to undermine the international order.