NATO to Conduct its Largest Ever Steadfast Defender Exercise in Europe With 90,000 Troops

NATO announced that next week it will launch Steadfast Defender 2024 in Europe, its largest military exercise in a decade, involving 90,000 troops. Over the course of months, the military will test the ability of allies to engage in a conflict with an adversary such as Russia.

Steadfast Defender 2024 will last until the end of May and will involve units from all 31 NATO member states, as well as Sweden, which is a candidate for membership. 

This was announced by US General Christopher Cavoli, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, at a joint press conference with Admiral Rob Bauer, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, and General Chris Badia, NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation.

The press conference came after the NATO Chiefs of Defence, together with the guest nation of Sweden, spent two days discussing the defence plans agreed at the Vilnius Summit.

These plans include force structure requirements that set out the numbers and types of equipment and organisations that NATO needs for all regions. 

The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said that NATO is stronger and more prepared than ever.

"Today is the 694th (!) day of a war that Russia thought was a three-day war. Ukraine has won as a sovereign independent state in Europe. It is closer to the Euro-Atlantic family than ever. And it has inflicted great losses on Russia. More than 300 thousand Russian troops were killed. Thousands of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles, hundreds of aircraft, were destroyed. Ukrainians were able to liberate significant parts of their territory, having thrown back about 50 per cent of what they occupied at the beginning of the war," the admiral stressed.

"Another achievement is that the Ukrainians were able to strike deep, destroying key Russian capabilities. The fact that Ukraine was able to push back the Russian Black Sea Fleet without a real navy and open up a grain corridor is another huge achievement," Bauer added.

All military leaders at the table reaffirmed their strong commitment to helping Ukraine defend itself.

The admiral noted that this is not charity. "Supporting Ukraine is a direct investment in our own security. And the only way to get a lasting solution through negotiations is to strengthen Ukraine's position on the battlefield.

That's why the NATO Chiefs of Defence met with their counterparts in the Partnership Defence Group from Australia, Austria, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland, as well as a special session with NATO's Indo-Pacific partners, such as Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea.

In the joint exercise Steadfast Defender 2024, the Alliance will demonstrate its ability to strengthen the Euro-Atlantic area through a transatlantic shift of forces from North America. This reinforcement will take place in a simulated scenario of a conflict against an adversary that is almost similar to a real one.

The day before, NATO published a summary of its first quantum strategy. Building on its new strategy, NATO will launch a Transatlantic Quantum Community to engage with governments, industry and academia from across the innovation ecosystem.