BRUSSELS: Nato announced on Thursday that it would begin its largest military exercise in decades next week, involving 90,000 troops and testing the allies’ ability over months to engage in a conflict with an adversary like Russia.

Steadfast Defender 2024 will run to late May and involve units from all 31 Nato member countries plus candidate-member Sweden, US General Christopher Cavoli, Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told journalists.

The exercise, composed of a series of smaller individual drills, will span from North America to Nato’s eastern flank, close to the Russian border. It will involve 50 naval vessels, 80 aircraft and over 1,100 combat vehicles.

The exercise — the biggest since the 1988 Reforger drill during the Cold War — comes as Nato overhauls its defences in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine. The US-led alliance has dispatched thousands of troops to its eastern flank and drawn up its most extensive plans since the collapse of the Soviet Union to protect itself from a Russian attack.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2024