The Steadfast Defender, NATO’s largest war simulation since the end of the Cold War, was launched on Wednesday in Norfolk, Virginia, northeastern United States.
The USS Gunston Hall, a US warship, embarked on a transatlantic journey towards Europe. By the end of the month, a Canadian ship will follow, NATO announced in a statement.
Steadfast Defender (STDE 24) will mobilise up to 90,000 soldiers from both sides of the Atlantic – including over 450 Belgians.
“The Alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via trans-Atlantic movement of forces from North America,” the NATO statement quotes General Christopher Cavoli, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, as saying. “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.”
Unfolding over several months from the Atlantic to NATO’s eastern flank, the exercise will imitate a conflict scenario with an adversary of comparable size. Based on NATO’s phrasing, this anonymous adversary appears to be a reference to Russia, whose major offensive in Ukraine started nearly two years ago.
About 50 warships, 80 aircraft, and 1,100 combat vehicles will participate in these extensive exercises, surpassing the scale of the 'Reforger' exercise, conducted in 1988 amid the Cold War between the Soviet Union and NATO.
STDE 24 will comprise scores of different-sized national and allied drills.
