The German-led “Air Defender 23” will take place over around 10 days starting Monday and include some 220 military aircraft from 25 NATO and partner countries.

Presenting the plans, US Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann said that while the exercise was purely defensive in nature, it was intended to send a message to countries, including Russia.

“I would be pretty surprised if any world leader was not taking note of what this shows in terms of the spirit of this alliance, which means the strength of this alliance, and that includes Mr. Putin,” she told reporters, referring to the Russian president, as quoted by AFP.

“By synchronizing together, we multiply our force.”

The exercise will include operational and tactical-level training, primarily in Germany, but also in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Latvia.

Gen. Ingo Gerhartz of the German Luftwaffe said Air Defender was conceived in 2018 in part as a response to the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, although he stressed it was “not targeted at anyone”.

“We are a defensive alliance and that is how this exercise is planned,” he said.

Gen. Michael Loh, director of the US Air National Guard (ANG), said NATO’s duties were at an “inflection point”.

“A great deal has changed on the strategic landscape throughout the world, especially here in Europe,” he said.

“This exercise focuses on supplementing the permanent United States presence in Europe” as well as providing training “on a larger scale than what was usually accomplished on the continent”, Loh added.

Gutmann said that while there were no plans to make Air Defender a recurring exercise, “We have no desire for this to be the last.”

Asked about potential disruption to civilian air transport during the exercise, Gerhartz insisted the planners had done “everything in our power” to prevent flight delays or cancellations as school holidays begin in some German regions.

 

Possible disruption

Talking further on the plan, Germany and the US said on Wednesday that the largest air deployment exercise in NATO’s history, involving 25 nations and 250 aircraft, would only cause minor disruptions to civilian air traffic in Europe.

“We anticipate minimal interruptions in the flow of civilian airlines,” Loh of the ANG said in a news conference in Berlin ahead of the German-led Air Defender 2023 drills from June 12 to 23.

Germany’s Gerhartz said most of the around 2,000 flights would be undertaken over the North and Baltic seas, and that all efforts had been taken to reduce disruptions to civilian air traffic.

He said he hoped to see no cancellations of flights and for any delays to be limited to minutes only.

“If we want to demonstrate that we are ready to defend this country and this alliance, we have to accept this,” Gerhartz noted. “You don’t get security for free.”

Almost 10,000 service members are set to take part in the exercise that will, among other drills, train how to swiftly move air reinforcements to Germany in case of a conflict with Russia.

Due to its location at the center of Europe, Germany would provide a major logistics hub and staging area for NATO in such a scenario.

Even during peacetime, it hosts more than 35,000 US troops.

The drills will focus on air bases in Germany, but also involve locations in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The US will send some 100 aircraft to Europe, with its reserve ANG providing most of them.

Gerhartz said he did not expect any increased Russian military activity in response to the drills, as they were designed to be defensive.