Over 2 dozen allies showcase capabilities in NATO's biggest air defense drill yet

By Tugrul Cam

WUNSTORF, Germany (AA) — Over two dozen nations are taking part in the biggest air exercise in NATO history, being held over two weeks in northern Germany.

Türkiye was one of the countries taking part in Air Defender 2023, where 25 allies are contributing a total of over 10,000 personnel and 250 aircraft of 23 different types.

Three F-16 fighter jets are representing the Turkish Armed Forces at the exercise, which started on June 12 and will end on Saturday.

Non-NATO states Sweden and Japan are also participating.

A hundred of the participating aircraft came from 35 US states, with the US Air National Guard providing the very largest portion of these.

Besides, Türkiye, Sweden, Japan, the US, and host Germany, the other nations in the exercise are Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

The drill uses hypothetical scenarios in the airspace over Germany to train the forces of Atlantic alliance on how to respond to an attack and recapture areas taken by an adversary.