NATO Announces Exercise Steadfast Defender 24

In an announcement last night that is rippling through governments in and beyond NATO today, senior NATO officials said the organization will launch its biggest military exercises in decades the week of this January 22.

NATO commanders expect 90,000 personnel will complete training across the warfare domains in the upcoming months to demonstrate the alliance can defend all of its territory up to its border with Russia.

Dubbed Steadfast Defender 24, the exercise, is being scripted to, in part, permit the 31-nation alliance to “demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via transatlantic movement of forces from North America,” NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, U.S. General Christopher Cavoli, said during the January 18 NATO Chiefs of Defence press conference.

Earlier this week, it was announced that in the first half of 2024, the UK MoD is expected to reveal plans for 20,000 service personnel from the Royal Navy, the British Army, and the Royal Air Force to deploy across Europe as part of Exercise Steadfast Defender 24.

MS&T will follow and comment on this major exercise’s implications and lessons learned for individuals, units and staffs across the live, virtual and constructive training domains.