Air Defender 2023: Greece will participate in the largest air exercise in the history of NATO

Germany is set to host Air Defender 2023 from June 12 to 24, the largest air exercise in his story NATO and Greece will also participate.

Overall it will all 25 member states of the Alliance participate, 220 aircraft and 10,000 people. Particular weight will be given to the ability to react immediately and especially in the case of activation of Article 5, for a collective reaction in the event of an attack against allied territory. At intervals during the exercise serious problems are expected in commercial flights to and from German airports.

The exercise will be under the command of the German air force and will be combined with the also under German command exercise MAGDAYS 23 and the NATO exercises RAMSTEIN DUST 23 and RAMSTEIN GUARD 23.

“Target of the largest exercise in terms of participation since the founding of NATO is to demonstrate the agility and speed of our air force as a rapid response force. Furthermore, we as the Luftwaffe show that we can plan, organize and execute such a large exercise. We take responsibility. The cooperation of 25 countries improves our interoperability and enables a reliable deterrence of a potential attacker. The transatlantic dimension – we will have more than 100 US National Guard aircraft – is a solid demonstration of NATO’s cohesion and solidarity,” said Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerharts, head of the Luftwaffe, underscoring Germany’s importance as a hub for allied defense operations in Europe.

The air forces from the Belgiumthe Bulgariathe Britainthe Francethe Germanythe Denmarkthe Hellasthe Estoniathe USAthe Japanthe Spainthe Italythe Croatianthe Latviathe Luxembourgthe Norwaythe Hungarythe Polandthe Romaniathe Swedenthe Sloveniathe Turkeythe Czech republic and the Finlandwill participate in training simulation scenarios of activation of Article 5that is collective defense of allied territory. Bases in Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic will be used as hubs and the exercises will take place in German airspace, but also in the Baltic and Romania, with flights “out -and-back’. Operations will last two to four hours a day, during which, for security reasons, no civilian flights will be allowed. Exercises will not take place at night and on weekends.