Target Russia?, The Largest Air Exercise in NATO History Europe | NATO | Military Exercise

According to foreign media reports, NATO will hold the "largest ever air military exercise" - "Air Guard 23" in Germany from the 12th to the 23rd. By simulating how NATO should react when member countries are attacked, NATO will "optimize" cooperation between participating countries and demonstrate the "power" of NATO military groups.

According to the instructions of the German Federal Defense Force, this exercise is mainly conducted on German territory, and the airspace of Estonia, which borders Russia, and Romania, which borders Ukraine, may also be used.

The Governor of Chang'an Street noted that from the perspective of scale, purpose, and Russian response, there are three points worth paying attention to in this military exercise.

The largest scale in history

The scale of this exercise is mainly due to the large number of participating countries and personnel. The "Air Guard 23" exercise will be mainly conducted by Germany, with 10000 soldiers and 250 aircraft from 25 countries participating. Japan, Finland, which just joined NATO in April, and Sweden, which intends to join NATO, will also participate in this exercise.

The Governor of Chang'an Street noticed that this was the first time the Japanese Self Defense Force had participated in a NATO "Air Guard" exercise, and Japan had gone a bit far on the dangerous road towards NATO.

Secondly, there are many weapons on the field. More than 220 aircraft are expected to participate in this exercise, including 100 aircraft and 2000 personnel from the United States. During the exercise, approximately 2000 flights will be conducted, mostly over the North Sea and Baltic Sea, with B-1 strategic bombers, F-35 fighter jets, and long-range lethal drones all appearing.

Then there is a wide range of activities. Reuters reported that the exercise will focus on German air bases and extend to NATO's eastern airspace, flying over Lithuania and Romania, as well as countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic, which may lead to the interruption of passenger flights throughout Europe.

Germany is located in the heart of Europe, and even during peacetime, there are over 35000 US troops stationed in Germany. If Europe gets involved in conflicts, Germany will become NATO's main logistics hub and gathering place.

The German Air Force Command has designated three air exercise areas for use, lasting 2 to 4 hours. To ensure safety, Germany will prohibit civil airlines from using this airspace during this period. Mas, chairman of the German Air Navigation Service Union, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur that the exercise "will have a huge impact on civil aviation flow".

A self contradictory defense

"Germany needs to take on much more responsibility, sometimes taking a leading role among NATO countries in Europe... We will prove our ability to do this in this exercise," said German Air Force Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhard. NATO member countries will also demonstrate through this exercise, "NATO's territory is our red line, and we are prepared to defend every centimeter of this territory."

According to US media reports, this exercise is based on hypothetical scenarios such as Russia's attack on NATO countries, simulating the transportation of large numbers of troops and equipment from the United States to Europe, and conducting exercises on how to fill European security gaps caused by air defense deficiencies.

The basic scenario of the exercise is that the enemy has occupied the port of Rostock in Germany during an attack, which will trigger NATO's Fifth Joint Defense Clause.

Even if the military exercise uses Russia as a hypothetical enemy and closely follows Russia's surrounding activities, Ghatz still insists that the exercise aims to demonstrate NATO's "defense" posture against Russia, and participating military aircraft will not fly to Kaliningrad, so it does not constitute a provocation against Russia. Russia should not increase military activities for this exercise.

Kaliningrad is a Russian enclave located between NATO member countries Poland and Lithuania, separated from mainland Russia, where Russia also has nuclear bombs. Last June, Lithuania obstructed the planned shipment of goods from its territory to Kaliningrad in order to resist Russia, causing friction with Russia.

US and German officials said the exercise will be "absolutely impressive" and indicate that NATO territory is a political "red line".

"If any world leader cannot see that this military exercise represents the spirit and strength of NATO's alliance, I would be very surprised." US Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann emphasized that "world leaders" include Russian President Putin.

It is worth noting that US Air Force National Guard Commander and Air Force Lieutenant General Michael Law claimed that NATO Air Force hopes to apply the experience of this exercise to various parts of the world, including the Pacific region.

He told The Wall Street Journal that this exercise is not just about "deterrence", but about showcasing the coordination and readiness of NATO and its external allies. In the future, "it should be possible for the Allies to implement similar deployments as far away as South Korea or Japan in a few hours, not months.".

The Russian Ministry of Defense announces an "unprecedented military expansion plan"

Although Russia has not yet commented on the "Air Guard 23" exercise, it has recently announced an unprecedented military expansion plan, which is closely related to NATO's step-by-step pressure.

Recently, NATO has frequently conducted large-scale military exercises around Russia. From May 15th to 26th and June 4th to 16th, NATO's "Spring Storm" and "Baltic Sea Operation 2023" large-scale exercises were held in Estonia, with military personnel from multiple NATO countries, as well as ships, fighter jets, and others participating.

From May 29th to June 9th, 14 countries including Norway, Sweden, and Finland held the "Arctic Challenge 2023" joint military exercise in the Arctic strategic fortress area near the Russian border.

From May 26th to June 2nd, Finland, which borders Russia, and the United States held a joint ground exercise in Finland.

Under the high-frequency stimulation of NATO, the Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Russian Army, Yevgeny Brkinsky, issued a statement on the 6th stating that the Russian military will soon establish two new army groups, one army corps, one Azov naval region, five divisions, and 26 brigades, as well as two new war zones in Moscow and Leningrad.

He also stated that during the implementation of partial mobilization, the Russian military has formed more than 280 units and divisions, "a scale never seen since the Self Defense War.".

In fact, as early as the end of last year, at the expanded meeting of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu announced a large-scale reform plan, including increasing the total number of Russian armed forces to 1.5 million and deciding to form a new air group army in the western strategic direction of Moscow and the Leningrad Theater.

Vladimir Vinokurov, a professor at the Russian Academy of Foreign Affairs, pointed out that although NATO did not mention the specific opponents targeted by the exercises, the West is practicing all scenarios of confrontation with Russia. And these exercises have deployed a large number of aircraft, undoubtedly posing a threat to Russia's security.