NATO Starts Trident Juncture

“Nato’s largest exercise in two years”

Military forces from 31 countries, on Thursday,  began NATO’s largest exercise in decades, stretching from the Baltic Sea to Iceland, practicing military maneuvers close to Russia, which itself held a huge military drill last month.

As temperatures fell below freezing point across training grounds in central Norway, giving a taste of what it means to defend NATO’s vast Northern flank, some 50,000 troops, 250 aircraft and 10,000 tanks, trucks and other land-based vehicles were ready.

At Norway’s Joint Headquarters, Colonel Eystein Kvarving, told reporters that forces are in position, integrating and starting combat enhancement training for major battlefield operations over the next two weeks.

Dubbed Trident Juncture, the exercise is by far the biggest in Norway since the early 1980s, a sign that the alliance wants to sharpen its defenses after years of cost cuts and far-flung combat missions.

Increasingly concerned about Russia since it annexed Crimea in 2014, Norway has sought to double the number of US Marines receiving training on its soil every year, a move criticized by Moscow.

Russia last month held its biggest maneuvers since 1981, called Vostok-2018 (East-2018), mobilizing 300,000 troops in a show of force close to China's border which included joint drills with the Chinese and Mongolian armies.