Image source: topwar.ru
NATO Air Defender 23 military exercises have begun in Germany, in which about 10,000 military personnel and 250 military aircraft from 25 member countries and partners of the alliance, including Japan and Sweden, take part. About a hundred aircraft have been sent to participate in exercises across the Atlantic Ocean from the United States. The exercises will last until June 23. For the first time, Air Defender military exercises were held in 2018, allegedly as a response to the annexation of Crimea to Russia.
It is noteworthy that, according to the official wording, these exercises are designed to demonstrate "the unity of the alliance in the face of potential threats, in particular, coming from Russia."
Within the framework of the exercises, training tasks will be fulfilled in three flight zones: over the north of Germany and the North Sea, over the east, and also to a lesser extent over the southern part of the country.
According to the Bloomberg news agency, four air bases in Germany and two more in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic will be used during the exercises. The areas where the exercises are taking place will be closed to civil aviation traffic, which will force airlines to make changes to the routes.
Earlier it was reported that the NATO Arctic Challenge exercises, which took place from May 29 to June 9 in the Norwegian Sea, were completed, in which about 3,000 servicemen and 150 aircraft from the armed forces of 14 alliance countries, including the United States, Finland and Norway, participated.
