The Air Defender 23 exercise, billed as the biggest in NATO’s history and hosted by Germany, started on Monday and is set to run through 23 June 2023.

Some 10,000 participants and 250 aircraft from 25 nations will respond to a simulated attack on a NATO member. The United States alone is sending 2,000 US Air National Guard personnel and about 100 aircraft.

Countries participating in the exercise include: Belgium; Bulgaria; Czech Republic; Germany; Finland; France; Hungary; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Poland; Romania; Slovakia; Spain; Turkey; United Kingdom; USA.

 Japan, and Sweden which is bidding to join the NATO alliance, are also taking part in the exercise.

 Ingo Gerhartz, German Air Force Chief Lieutenant General told ZDF television: “With Air Defender 23 we show, we prove and we demonstrate the defense capability of this alliance. The signal of this exercise is not directed against anybody. It is a signal to us, directed inwardly within NATO. It is predominantly NATO countries that are participating in this exercise, which is German-led, to show that we are capable of defending this country and this alliance.”

 “The exercise is a signal - a signal above all to us, a signal to us, the NATO countries, but also to our population that we are in a position to react very quickly… that we would be able to defend the alliance in case of attack,” he added.