NATO To Hold Hybrid Combat Drill, Largest Since Cold War
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NATO is preparing to hold its most complex military drills in decades — perhaps since the Cold War — as it readies allied troops for a range of hybrid combat scenarios that they might face in coming years.
Defense One reports that tens of thousands of troops, hundreds of aircraft, ships and submarines are expected to participate in the October-November exercises in and around Spain, Portugal and Italy.
Called Trident Juncture 2015, the exercise will simulate many types of scenarios that have popped up over the past 13 years, including cyber attacks and ballistic missile defense. The alliance now plans to run exercises like Trident Juncture every three years. The next exercise like this will take place in Northern Europe – Norway, the Baltic Sea and North Sea – and will include a scenario in which the alliance must respond to an attack on a NATO country.
More than 36,000 NATO troops from 27 alliance member countries and seven partner nations will participate in Trident Juncture, along with more than 140 aircraft, 60 ships and submarines.
The exercises will begin in mid-October with aerial combat drills in Italy before shifting to land and amphibious combat exercises in Spain and Portugal in early November. The alliance agreed to hold this exercise back at its 2012 summit in Chicago, before Russia invaded Ukraine and put NATO on high alert.
The exercise will test the alliance militaries against a range of threats, including Afghanistan-type scenarios, cyber attacks, ballistic missile defense and a humanitarian crisis. The drill will also include scenarios that NATO forces could face: fighting better-equipped and more traditional militaries, like Russia.
