NATO Launches Largest-Ever Air Force Drill in ‘ Show of Strength’

(Photo : KALLE PARKKINEN/Lehtikuva/AFP via Getty Images)
NATO started the largest air force deployment exercise in the records of the Western military alliance.

NATO has launched what it calls its "largest deployment exercise" in history, with the intention of conveying a message to countries such as Russia that it "is prepared to defend every inch of space of Allied territory."

According to NATO, the "Air Defender" exercise will last until June 23 and involve 25 countries, 10,000 personnel, and 250 aircraft. Germany is hosting the military training exercises.

NATO's Largest Air Force Drill

According to Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, chief of the German Air Force, Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula was a "wake-up call" for NATO to organize such exercises. Per Fox News, the United States has sent thousands of service members, primarily from National Guard units, to participate in the exercises. According to NATO, "Air Defender" has been planned for years.

Diverse opinions exist regarding the extent to which the exercise will disrupt civilian flights. Matthias Maas, the head of the German air traffic controllers' union, GdF, stated that it "will have massive consequences on the administration of civil aviation."

On Monday morning, the first aircraft lifted off from airfields in northern Germany. The United States is deploying 2,000 Air National Guard personnel and approximately 100 aircraft on its own, according to Military.com.

"The exercise is a signal - a signal above all to us, a signal to us, the NATO countries, but also to our population, that we are able to react very rapidly... that we could defend the alliance in the event of an attack," German air force chief Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz told ZDF television.

Gerhartz stated that he proposed the 2018 exercise on the grounds that Russia's annexation of Crimea highlighted the need for NATO to be able to defend itself. The Russian incursion of Ukraine in February 2022 has prompted NATO to intensify its preparations for a potential assault on its territory. Sweden, which is seeking alliance membership, and Japan are also participating in the exercise.

Gerhartz contested this. He stated that the German air traffic control authority collaborated with the air force to minimize disruption. He noted that the exercise is limited to three locations, none of which will be utilized at the same time, and that it will conclude before any German state begins summer vacation.

The German-led exercises have been in the works for several years, but their scheduling in the midst of Moscow's 16-month invasion of its neighboring country conveys a timely message to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to Oleksandr Vilkul, director of the Kryvyi Rih city military administration, at least 11 persons were killed and 28 were injured when Russian missiles attacked the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine early on Tuesday. According to Ukraine's Operational Command South, three more persons were killed in the Black Sea port city of Odessa after Russia launched four "Kalibr" cruise missiles.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, NATO has feared that Moscow's devastation of Ukrainian cities could spread beyond the country's borders. Russia has consistently threatened retaliation in response to NATO members' military assistance to Ukraine, which includes tanks, armored vehicles, and other armaments used in Kyiv's current offensive.

NATO Members Urge to Provide Fighter Jets for Ukraine

Per CNN, alliance members are planning to provide Ukraine with identical F-16 fighter aircraft to those participating in the current war exercises. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established in the aftermath of World War II to defend Western nations against the Soviet Union. The alliance contains a mutual defense clause stating that an assault on one member is deemed an attack on all members.

This NATO territory comprises five members that share a border with Russia and are participating in the exercises: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Two of these countries, Estonia and Latvia, will host portions of the exercises.

Other participants include NATO members Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as NATO applicant Sweden and Japan, whose ties to the alliance have been growing.

Fighter aircraft include US F-35 stealth jets and F-15s; US, Turkish, and Greek F-16s; Spanish and British Eurofighters; German Tornadoes; US and Finnish F/A-18s; Hungarian Gripens; and US A-10 ground-attack jets.