| Date | Spring every three years |
|---|---|
| Location | Europe |
| Participants | NATO's members and accession candidates |
Steadfast Defender is the name of a series of NATO exercises. The latest exercise, being held in 2024, is the largest since the Cold War. [1] The first one was held in 2021, and they are planned to be held every three years. [2]
The French Armed Forces are the military forces of France. They consist of four military branches – the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force and the National Gendarmerie. The National Guard serves as the French Armed Forces' military reserve force. As stipulated by France's constitution, the president of France serves as commander-in-chief of the French military. France has the ninth largest defence budget in the world and the third largest in the European Union (EU). It also has the largest military by size in the EU. As of 2021, the total active personnel of the French Armed Forces is 270,000. While the reserve personnel is 63,700, for a total of 333,000 personnel. If we include the active personnel of the National Gendarmerie, the total men power of all the French Armed Forces combined is 435,000 strong. A 2015 Credit Suisse report ranked the French Armed Forces as the world's sixth most powerful military.
The Bundeswehr is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part and a civil part, the military part consisting of the German Army, the German Navy, the German Air Force, the Joint Support Service, the Joint Medical Service, and the Cyber and Information Domain Service.
Exercise Campaign Reforger was an annual military exercise and campaign conducted by NATO during the Cold War. The exercise was intended to ensure that NATO had the ability to quickly deploy forces to West Germany in the event of a conflict with the Warsaw Pact. Although most troops deployed were from the United States, the operation also involved a substantial number of troops from other NATO countries including Canada and the United Kingdom. It was a basic military planning exercise to smooth out issues in the event of an invasion of western Europe, not just a show of force. Once the Cold War ended, it was superseded by other exercises.
Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) is one of NATO's standing naval maritime immediate reaction forces. SNMG1 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability.
Nordic Response is a military exercise hosted by Norway with other NATO and invited Partnership for Peace countries held every other year.
The Rapid Reaction Corps — France (RRC-FR) was created on 1 July 2005 by the French Army. It is NATO certified and capable of commanding a national or multinational land component of up to 120,000 personnel. The corps is intended to command forces under French, EU or NATO command. It is subordinated to the French Army's Commandement de la Force et des Opérations Terrestres, the land forces command.
BALTOPS is an annual military exercise, held and sponsored by the Commander, United States Naval Forces Europe, since 1971, in the Baltic Sea and the regions surrounding it.
The Kosovo Security Force (KSF) is the military of Kosovo. The KSF is tasked with defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Kosovo, military support for civilian authorities, and participation in international peacekeeping missions and operations. Since 2018, it is in the process of transforming into the Kosovo Armed Forces.
The Zapad 2009 military exercise was held by the armed forces of Russia and Belarus in Belarus from 8–29 September 2009. According to several reports and analyses, the exercise could have involved training for the use of nuclear weapons, and might have simulated a nuclear strike on a NATO country.
EUBG 2014 II or EUBG 2014-2 is an EU Battlegroup consisting of around 3,000 troops from Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, the Netherlands and North Macedonia. It was on standby from 1 July until 31 December 2014.
Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) is a NATO-allied forward-deployed defense and deterrence military force in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. This posture in Northern Europe through Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and in Central Europe through Poland, Slovakia and Hungary and in Eastern Europe through Romania and Bulgaria, is in place to protect and reassure the security of NATO's Northern, Central and Eastern European member states on NATO's eastern flank.
Trident Juncture 18, abbreviated TRJE18, was a NATO-led military exercise held in Norway in October and November 2018 with an Article 5 collective defence scenario. The exercise was the largest of its kind in Norway since the 1980s. An expected 50,000 participants from 31 nations partook, including 10,000 vehicles, 250 aircraft and 65 vessels. The exercise was mainly held in the central and eastern parts of Norway, in addition to air and sea areas in Norway, Sweden and Finland. The stated goal of Trident Juncture was to train the NATO Response Force and to test the alliance's defence capability. According to the Norwegian Armed Forces, the exercise tested the country's ability to receive and handle allied support.
NATO forces in Poland consist of both Polish and allied units. Poland joined NATO in 1999.
The UK Carrier Strike Group (UKCSG) is a carrier battle group of the Royal Navy. It has existed in various forms since the mid-2000s. Between 2006 and 2011, the formation centred around the Royal Navy's Invincible-class aircraft carriers until the retirement of their Harrier GR9 strike aircraft in 2011 as a result of the Strategic Defence and Security Review. The UKCSG subsequently returned in February 2015 ahead of the entry into service of the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. The aim of the CSG is to facilitate carrier-enabled power projection.
Defender-Europe 21 was a large-scale, United States Army-led, multinational joint exercise designed to build readiness and interoperability between the United States, NATO and partner militaries. Taking place between mid-March and June, it was one of the largest United States Army, NATO-led military exercises in Europe in decades. More than 28,000 personnel from 26 nations conducted nearly simultaneous operations across more than 30 training areas in a dozen countries.
Zapad 2021 was a joint strategic exercise between the armed forces of the Russian Federation and Belarus, which took place from 10 to 15 September 2021. According to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, approximately 200,000 military personnel, up to 760 pieces of equipment, and 15 ships participated in the exercises.
Since Estonia joined NATO in 2004, Estonia has participated in many joint military operations using its Estonian Defence Forces. Estonia has also participated in NATO-led military and peacekeeping operations before 2004.
Air Defender 23 is the name of a major maneuver of armed forces of member states of NATO and other European countries in European airspace in 2023. It lasted 10 days, from 12 June to 23 June 2023. Although Air Defender 23 was not an exercise of NATO, but initiated by the Bundeswehr, it was the largest exercise of air forces announced since NATO was founded. The maneuver took place in the airspace of the Federal Republic of Germany, under the leadership of the German Air Force. It involved up to 10,000 soldiers and 250 aircraft from 25 countries.
Steadfast Defender 2024 or Steadfast Defender 24 was a 2024 NATO Steadfast Defender exercise that took place from 22 January to 31 May 2024 throughout the Trans-Atlantic region. It practiced elements of the multilateral military response specified by Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which provides for a mutual defensive military response by all NATO member states in the event of another power's armed aggression toward any NATO member state. The exercise is part of the series of Steadfast Defender maneuvers. It is the largest NATO maneuver since the end of the Cold War.
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