NATO to conduct major air exercise next week
NATO, in coordination with Germany, will next week conduct its largest air manoeuvre exercise ever, reports Agerpres. The "Air Defender 23" exercise will run for ten days from Monday and will bring together 25 NATO member and partner countries.
At a press conference, US Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann stressed that the strongest message of the Air Defender 2023 exercises, which will involve more than 250 military aircraft and nearly 10,000 troops, is that "the unity and strength of the Alliance is essential".
The exercise will be purely defensive in nature, but will also aim to send a message, particularly to Russia, she explained.
The exercise will include operational and tactical training, mainly in Germany, but also in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Latvia.
It was conceived in 2018 partly in response to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.
