NATO Plans Record Air Exercise as Finland Joins Alliance — “Largest Transatlantic Movement” the Air National Guard Has Ever Done
- NATO Plans Record Air Exercise as Finland Joins Alliance
by https://www.defenseone.com/
Air Defender 2023 exercise will include 100 U.S. aircraft, 2,000 troops, in “largest transatlantic movement” the Air National Guard has ever done.
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As NATO brings Finland into the fold, the U.S. and Germany are preparing for the largest deployment of U.S. air forces to Europe since the formation of the U.S.-led security alliance.
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The upcoming exercise, Air Defender 2023, will test the Air National Guard’s “ability to rapidly deploy and rapidly employ [forces],” similar to what the United States would have to do if the Ukraine war spreads to NATO, said Lt. Gen. Michael Loh, director of the Air National Guard. “It is the largest transatlantic movement we’ve done.”
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The Air National Guard, which maintains units for “prompt mobilization during war” in addition to its role in homeland defense, will send about 100 aircraft to Germany for the 10-day exercise in June, Loh said during a press conference Tuesday. The exercise will include aircraft the U.S. is about to retire, such as A-10s and F-15Cs, as well as new aircraft, such as F-35s, upgraded F-16s, and KC-46s, Loh said.
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Air Defender will be Finland’s first major NATO exercise as a member country. Chief of the German Air Force Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz said Finland will send its F/A-18 Super Hornets, since it won’t begin flying F-35s “for a few years.”
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“I think that they will get to learn a lot from us and then likewise, we’ll be able to learn a lot from them and how they employ their F/A-18s, which will then go into turn how they’re going to employ their F-35s,” Loh said.
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