NATO to start annual nuclear drill Steadfast Noon next week

NATO's annual nuclear deterrence exercise, Steadfast Noon, will be hosted by the Netherlands and start next week, with 71 aircraft from 14 nations taking part, officials from the Western military alliance said on Friday, US News reports.

The exercise "sends a clear signal to any potential adversary that we will and can protect and defend all allies against all threats," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said.

"We need to do this because it helps us to make sure that our nuclear deterrent remains as credible, and as safe, and as secure, and as effective as possible," Rutte said.

The exercise does not use nuclear weapons but simulates scenarios in which they could be used, NATO officials said.

The exercises, called Steadfast Noon, will take place in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK and Denmark just weeks after a wave of drone incursions and cyberattacks rattled several northern European countries, Bloomberg reports.

The two-week program, which includes 14 members of the military alliance, is occurring as Europe fears the US may reduce or withdraw its military assets on the continent. That has prompted several European NATO allies to discuss changing the continent’s nuclear architecture for the first time in decades.

The US has “signaled thus far no change to their current posture in Europe,” Colonel Daniel Bunch, chief of nuclear operations at NATO’s military branch, told reporters. “For the time being the US is committed, it hasn’t changed its policies and will be participating in this exercise.”

No actual nuclear weapons will be involved in the drills and the focus will be on air-to-air strikes, with the US contributing several F-35 planes.

NATO says the exercises are not held with any particular adversary in mind, but Stokes said Russia’s nuclear posture was closely monitored, citing Moscow’s use in Ukraine of dual missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

While France keeps its nuclear deterrence capacities separate from NATO, French President Emmanuel Macron has this year offered to start talks on extending the country’s nuclear shield to European allies. Countries such as Poland have expressed strong interest.

NATO officials deemed these developments “very encouraging,” also touting France and the UK’s investments in nuclear capabilities.

…This is the second recent attempt to demonstrate its nuclear capabilities in Europe. France recently conducted nuclear weapons exercises.

read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs