Major NATO exercise starts in Scandinavia on Monday

The Scandinavian countries and their NATO allies will launch a major military exercise, Nordic Response, on Monday. Until March 15, almost 20,000 soldiers from 13 NATO member states and the future member state Sweden will carry out maneuvers in the Arctic.

The epicenter of the military exercise is northern Norway, Sweden and Finland. There will be a lot of activity, especially at sea. More than 50 submarines, frigates, corvettes, aircraft carriers and amphibious ships are being deployed, NATO air command (Aircom) in Ramstein said.

More than a hundred combat, transport and reconnaissance aircraft will participate in the exercise in the airspace, as well as helicopters and special forces aircraft. On the ground, thousands of soldiers will practice with artillery systems, tanks and tracked vehicles.

Although Turkey and subsequently Hungary agreed to Sweden's accession to NATO, membership has not yet been formalized. Nevertheless, the country is participating in a major military exercise by the alliance for the first time. 4500 Swedish soldiers are deployed. Finland, which is already a member, is participating with more than 4,000 soldiers.

Nordic Response is part of Steadfast Defender (STDE 24), according to NATO the alliance's largest military exercise since the end of the Cold War.