On Wednesday, authorities announced that NATO would begin its most significant air force deployment in history as part of a training exercise designed to simulate an assault on an allied nation.
German news site DW was the first to announce that the practice, named Air Defender 23, will take place in and over Germany on Monday, with 10,000 people and 250 aircraft from 25 nations participating.
Article 5 of the NATO charter specifies that an assault on one member nation is considered an attack on all members; hence the drills are aimed to guarantee a coordinated response from allies.
German Air Force Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz said they are displaying that NATO territory is a red line, and every centimeter of this territory will be defended.
The German general also emphasized that the drills’ defensive focus means they won’t be conducted in Russian airspace.
U.S. Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann assured everyone that the drills would make an “impressive show for anyone watching.”
She told reporters that the exercise would prove “beyond a shadow of a doubt” the readiness of the NATO alliance’s first responders.
Gutman said it would be pretty surprising if a world leader weren’t taking notes of the strength of this alliance.
NATO authorities attempted to allay fears about the interruptions to civilian aviation traffic caused by the major air drills by saying they would be “minimal.”
Although measures have been made to prevent disruptions in aviation travel, Gerhartz added that one doesn’t get “security for free.”
He said that acceptance of this was necessary to show that the United States was serious about defending itself and its allies.
The show was explicitly for Putin, China, and NOKO. It is militarily and politically important to display a fierce alliance to quell the desires of the Eastern “axis of evil.”
