BRUSSELS: Nato on Wednesday began its biggest military exercise since the Cold War with a US warship leaving the United States for transit across the Atlantic to alliance territory in Europe.

The Western military alliance has said some 90,000 troops will take part in the months-long Steadfast Defender 24 exercise designed to test its defences in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“The alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via trans-Atlantic movement of forces from North America,” said General Christopher Cavoli, Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

“Steadfast Defender 2024 will be a clear demonstration of our unity, strength, and determination to protect each other, our values and the rules-based international order.” The exercise is designed to simulate the 31-nation alliance’s response to an attack from a rival like Russia.

It will be composed of a series of smaller individual drills and will span from North America to Nato’s eastern flank, close to the Russian border.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2024