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Exercise Steadfast Defender Graphic [Image 16 of 22]

ROMANIA

05.22.2021

Courtesy Photo

Allied Joint Force Command Naples

Exercise Steadfast Defender 2021 is the first in a new series of long-planned NATO exercises to ensure that our forces are trained, able to operate together and ready to respond to any threat from any direction. This exercise will demonstrate the value of North America and Europe working together to keep our nations safe in a more challenging security environment.

Over the last years, in response to a more unpredictable world, NATO has been implementing the biggest boost of our collective defence in a generation. We will continue to adapt through the NATO 2030 project, which will be at the heart of NATO’s upcoming summit in Brussels later this year. Strengthening deterrence and defence, including through exercises such as Steadfast Defender 2021, is a key part of this initiative.

Steadfast Defender 2021 will improve NATO’s capability to respond collectively to an attack. The geographic locations, scale of deployment across sea, land and air, and range of military capabilities involved, reflect NATO’s resolve to deter and defend across the whole Euro-Atlantic area.

NATO is a defensive Alliance, and Steadfast Defender 2021 is a defensive exercise. The scenario focuses on collective defence, our Article 5 commitment to defend each other.

With participation from 20 Allies from North America and Europe, Steadfast Defender 2021 will help improve the interoperability of Allied forces and practice military mobility throughout Europe.

The exercise willbe the first large test of NATO’s adapted Command Structure. It will involve the two new commands, one focused on logistics, Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC), based in Ulm, Germany, and the other focused on the Atlantic, Joint Force Command Norfolk (JFCNF), based in Norfolk, Virginia, in the U.S.

Steadfast Defender 2021 is a long-planned exercise. The preparation and execution are handled in full transparency and in line with our international obligations.