NATO Launches Exercise with 90,000 Troops, Largest in Decades

The maneuvers include more than 80 air platforms, including F-35s, F/A-18s, Harriers, F-15s, helicopters, and uncrewed aerial vehicles.

Kimberly Johnson

Monday, January 22, 2024 at 05:29 PM ET

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NATO is launching its largest war game in decades this week that comprises about 90,000 troops from all 31 allied nations and Sweden. [Courtesy: NATO]

Key Takeaways:

NATO is conducting "Steadfast Defender 24," its largest war game in decades, involving approximately 90,000 troops from all 31 allied nations and Sweden.
The exercise aims to demonstrate the alliance's ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic during a simulated conflict, serving as a show of force and deterrence against a "near-peer adversary."
The drills are seen as a test of NATO's new defense plans for collective territorial defense and will run through the end of May.
Russia has criticized the exercises, labeling them as a return to Cold War confrontation and an element of "hybrid war."

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In an epic show of force, NATO is launching its largest war game in decades this week that comprises about 90,000 troops from all 31 allied nations and Sweden.

The rehearsal—referred to as “Steadfast Defender 24″—aims to demonstrate how U.S. forces and the alliance would reinforce the Euro-Atlantic during a “simulated emerging conflict scenario against a near-peer adversary,” NATO said. The exercise includes more than 80 air platforms, including F-35 Lightning IIs, F/A-18 Hornets, Harriers, F-15 Eagles, helicopters, and uncrewed aerial vehicles.