Air Defender 2023: What will the biggest air exercise in NATO history look like and what message does it send to Putin?

Germany hosts since Monday, and for ten days, the largest air maneuver exercise in the history of the NATO. This gigantic show of force by the allies occurs in the midst of Ukraine’s counteroffensive to recover the territories conquered by Russia after the invasion that began in February 2022.

In the maneuvers called Air Defender 2023 more than 10,000 soldiers from a total of 25 countries and 250 aircraft.

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In the Air Defender 2023 exercise will respond to a simulated attack against a NATO member country. That is, a scenario foreseen in the Article 5 of the Alliance, the collective defense of the territory.

“It is about sending a strong message: we can defend ourselves. We are showing that we can gather forces in a few hours”, said last week the lieutenant general ingo gerhartzinspector of the Air Force of Germanywho coordinates the exercise.

The planes will depart from three areas of Germany: over the north of the country and the north sea, from the east and from the south. These locations will be closed to civil air traffic for several hours each day.

In addition, there will be missions with daily flights to and from Estonia, a former Soviet republic that is located on the border with Russia. The same will happen with Romania, on the border with Ukraine.

Air Defender 2023. (DW).

As Deutsche Welle reports, in Air Defender 2023 air support for ground troops will be staged, the fight in the skies against enemy planes and the interception of medium-range missiles by fighter-bombers of the NATO.

A fundamental part of the maneuvers is the F-35 stealth bomber sent by the United States. It is the most modern fighter of the alliance.

US forces also sent their C130 Herkules transport plane to the air base Wunstorf, in the Hannover region. There they are parked next to the A440M transport planes of the Bundeswehr air transport squadron, the German newspaper Bild reported.

The United States alone has sent 2,000 Air National Guard personnel and around 100 fighter jets and drones.

In the German city of Wunstorf, some 600 US soldiers will be housed and fed in specially built camps. For the maneuvers it will be necessary to build a mobile fuel tank.

In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Torben Arnold, from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), said that about the North Sea “defense against enemy submarines or ships” will be testedbecause the enemy “can attack us not only by land, but also by sea.”

“This is an exercise that will be absolutely stunning to anyone watching,” said the US ambassador to Germany, Amy Gutman.

“It will undoubtedly demonstrate the agility and speed of our NATO partner force as a first responder,” he told reporters in Berlin.

The United States Ambassador to Germany, Amy Gutmann; and the director of the United States Air National Guard, Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

“I would be very surprised if some world leader is not taking note of what this shows in terms of the spirit of this alliance, what the strength of this alliance means.”continued.

“And that includes Mr. Putin,” he added, referring to the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

A Turkish air force F-16 fighter jet takes off in northern Germany, on June 9, 2023. (Photo by Axel Heimken/POOL/AFP) (AXEL HEIMKEN/)

Although the exercise was planned since 2018, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 he pushed the NATO to seriously prepare for the possibility of an attack on their territory.

“We are demonstrating that the territory of the NATO It is our red line, that we are prepared to defend every inch of this territory”, said German Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz.

The German military clarified that no flight to kaliningrad. “This is intended to be defensive and is not directed at anyone,” she pointed out.

kaliningrad is a Russian enclave located in the Baltic Sea, between Poland and Lithuania.

In this file photo taken on February 24, 2022, a US Air Force F-35 Lightning II aircraft is refueled by a KC-10 Extender aircraft over Poland. (JOSEPH BARRON / US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE / AFP).

An MQ-9 Reaper drone, armed with GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided munitions and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, during a combat mission over southern Afghanistan. (EFE/Leslie Pratt/US Air Force). (Leslie Pratt/)

US servicemen go about their daily routines on a C-17 military transport plane in Manas, 30 kilometers from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, on March 6, 2014. (Photo by VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO / AFP) (VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/)

Two MiG 29 fighter jets take part in the NATO Air Shielding exercise near the airbase in Lask, Poland, on October 12, 2022. (Photo by RADOSLAW JOZWIAK / AFP) (RADOSLAW JOZWIAK/)

For his part, Lieutenant General michael a lohdirector of the United States Air National Guard, said the exercise goes beyond deterrence.

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

NATO member countries. (AFP).

Source: Elcomercio