“Steadfast Defender”: A Look At NATO’s Massive War Games On The Black Sea

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

Stoking tensions with Moscow, NATO is carrying out its largest war games yet this year that spread across the Atlantic Ocean and extend into Russia’s backyard in the Black Sea.

According to the NATO website, the Steadfast Defender exercises started on May 12th and will be held until June 22nd. The drills involve 20 ships, 60 aircraft, 500 vehicles, and over 9,000 personnel from 20 countries.

Among the ships involved is the HMS Queen Elizabeth, a British aircraft carrier that is on its maiden deployment. After drilling with NATO, the Queen Elizabeth and its strike group will head into the Pacific to send a message to China.

NATO-Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke with reporters while onboard the Queen Elizabeth off the coast of Portugal. “NATO is there to defend all our allies, and this exercise sends a message about our ability to transport a large number of troops, equipment across the Atlantic, across Europe and also to project maritime power,” he said.

#HappeningNow: @USArmy #Soldiers from @lancers2_5cav fire their M1 Abrams Tanks to rehearse for an upcoming exercise – Joint Allied Power Demo Day, which is part of #SteadfastDefender 21, at Cincu Training Area, Romania. #StrongerTogether I #WeAreNATO @AmbasadaSUA @US_EUCOM pic.twitter.com/r26piwSCiO

— U.S. Army Europe and Africa (@USArmyEURAF) May 28, 2021

It’s clear the “message” the military alliance intends to send is aimed at Russia.

The massive exercises come after NATO took a strong stance in support of Ukraine during a tense stand-off between Moscow and Kyiv.

#SteadfastDefender21 Maritime LIVEX CET/FIT is over. We are ready to start Phase II, simulating a real world naval warfare scenario and executing sea denial ops to prevent freedom of movement of the opposing forces, simulated by @HMSQNLZ CSG.
#SNMG1 #WeAreNATO #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/Xd5KuU90c1

— Commander SNMG2 (@COM_SNMG2) May 25, 2021

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is pushing hard to get his country into NATO and is asking the US to back the effort.

However, on Wednesday Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba decried what he said was a lack of progress towards a NATO membership.