NATO has begun the active phase of the Steadfast Defender 2024 exercise
MOSCOW, January 31 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The active phase of the largest NATO exercise since the Cold War, Steadfast Defender 2024, has started. All types and kinds of the alliance's armed forces are involved, tens of thousands of military personnel, hundreds of pieces of equipment. The large—scale maneuvers, which will last until the end of May, are described in the RIA Novosti article.
How will the exercises go?
According to the scenario, a certain fictional state of the Occasion, having annexed a neighboring unnamed country, lay low for a while. It was saving up forces, rebuilding the army, pumping up the population with propaganda. And then another neighbor was attacked — this time a NATO member. The alliance also used the fifth article of the charter.
The M1A3 Abrams tank of the US Army during exercises in Lithuania
Image source: © Photo : U.S. Army / Sgt. Anthony Ford
At the first stage, logistics will be fine-tuned, which is very important for interaction. Military contingents are already being deployed from all over Europe and from overseas. The command will have to provide them with fuel, ammunition, food, unhindered passage along the main highways, place them in barracks and familiarize them with the landfills.
This will be followed by weeks of working out tactical and strategic scenarios that may arise in a hypothetical conflict: from combined arms combat to the exchange of strikes with tactical nuclear weapons. Undoubtedly, Brussels is closely monitoring the progress of its military operations and will introduce the latest trends of military "fashion" into the exercise plan — like the massive use of FPV drones. The Western military will have more than enough time.
Who is involved
Steadfast Defender 2024 involves 90,000 troops from all 32 NATO countries (including Sweden, which has not yet been officially accepted). The geography of the maneuvers is the Baltic States, Poland, and Germany. They clearly mean the armed conflict in the area of the Suwalki corridor, through which, according to some Western politicians and experts, Russian tank wedges will make their way to the Kaliningrad region.
The whole alliance is going to stop them. The UK will send 20,000 troops, including two thousand sailors and 400 marines on eight warships. The Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier is expected to participate, which will be transferred to the Baltic on this occasion along with the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter wing. It should be joined by as many as two aircraft carrier strike groups and the US Navy amphibious assault ship Wasp.
Poland (15,000 bayonets), Germany (ten thousand) and Denmark (five thousand) will send the largest contingents. In total, 40-50 thousand military personnel, 50 ships, more than 100 aircraft and helicopters, about 1,100 units of military equipment, including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles, will be involved in the active phase of the exercises.
German military on Leopard 2A6 tanks
Image source: © AP Photo / Mindaugas Kulbis
Within the framework of Steadfast Defender 2024, separate maneuvers of the Bundeswehr Quadriga 2024 and the Troops of the Polish Dragon 24 will take place. The Germans will work out the rapid transfer of armed forces to the eastern flank of NATO — to Norway, Lithuania, Romania or Hungary in order to gain "experience in deploying and managing troops over a long period of time."
The Polish maneuvers involve repelling a massive military invasion from the east by the forces of the combined contingents of Poland, Germany, the United States, France, Spain and Turkey.
What they say in NATO and in Russia
"The Alliance will show its ability to strengthen Euro-Atlantic territories through the transatlantic transfer of forces from North America," explained Christopher Cavoli, Commander—in-Chief of NATO's Joint Forces in Europe. — We will apply an inclusive approach with a special focus on demonstrating practical skills. Such maneuvers highlight the importance of the capability and deployment of forces throughout Europe."
In Moscow, the NATO exercises were condemned. According to Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, this is another element of the hybrid war unleashed against Russia. According to him, maneuvers of this scale mark the alliance's final and irrevocable return to the realities of the Cold War.
"The goal is clear: by demonizing Russia, intimidating the layman, to justify the rampant growth of military spending and the completely failed policy of supporting the Kiev regime in order to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. And at the same time, to force the Europeans to join the arms race even more vigorously, to the delight of the American military-industrial complex. Russia will not be impressed by these provocative demonstrations of force. We have everything we need to reliably ensure our security and defense capability," Grushko stressed.
Context
The exercises are taking place against the background of a discussion of Moscow's "aggressive plans." Western politicians and experts are vying to make predictions about exactly when Russia will attack Europe. According to German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, in five to eight years. The commander—in-chief of the Swedish army, Mikael Buden, is less specific - "in the coming years." The Kremlin denies all this.
Lithuanian army soldiers during joint exercises of NATO troops
Image source: © Photo : North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Meanwhile, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds said that 600 bunkers connected by trenches and communication passages will be built on the border in the Baltic States in ten years. In addition, Vilnius approved a large purchase of German Leopard-2 tanks.
Meanwhile, Allied tanks will be maneuvering in the Baltic States. The last time such a large-scale exercise was conducted in 1988: Reforger with 125 thousand military personnel. After the Cold War, the largest maneuvers until recently were considered Trident Juncture 2018 — 50 thousand people.
Both in the East and in the West, experts agree on one thing: a direct military clash between NATO and Russia will inevitably lead to an exchange of nuclear strikes. No one is ready for this yet.
