NATO is preparing to carry out the largest aeronautical exercise in its history in Europe, from June 12 to June 23. The name of the event is Air Defender 23, and it will include the air forces of 25 nations. The massive event is reported to involve up to 10,000 participants who will train their flight skills with around 220 aircraft, per Simple Flying.
The military event is set to take place in European airspace, and it will be led by the German air force, Luftwaffe. Bret Weinstein has expressed reservations about the development, given that it has not received mainstream coverage. Weinstein said that the event’s “low profile may be a feature and not a bug.”
The report stated that the main objective of such an extensive military drill is to create an exercise scenario that would include warfare operations for allied forces. Air Defender 23 is supposed to demonstrate NATO’s strength in the air. Learning how the nation’s respective air forces would respond in the case of an emergency is also a priority.
The name “Air Defender 23” apparently refers to the number of different aircraft that will be involved in the drills. The F-35, belonging to the US and Dutch will be featured, as well as a NATO Awacs reconnaissance aircraft, and for the first time, a Japanese Air Force transport aircraft. Out of the 220 aircraft that will be used in the event, 100 will be arriving from 35 different states in the US, per the report.
Germany is to act as the defense hub, meaning that most of the locations which will be used in the drills will be within Germany’s control. The 25 nations that will be involved in Defender 23 are as follows: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and Greece.
