NATO exercise Steadfast Dart 2025 starts in Romania

NATO's Steadfast Dart 2025 exercise, starting today at seven training grounds in Romania, will practice the deployment of a new response force. Their task is to quickly strengthen the alliance's eastern flank.

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The maneuvers will involve about 10,000 military personnel from nine NATO member countries, 17 naval assets, more than 20 aircraft and 1,500 pieces of equipment. The large-scale NATO exercise Steadfast Dart 2025 will be held until February 26, the alliance's press service said in a statement.

The purpose of the maneuvers is to test "deployment capabilities and procedures, as well as interoperability between troop-contributing and troop-receiving countries."

During the exercise, the deployment of the new NATO Allied Reaction Force, whose task is to "rapidly reinforce the eastern flank" of the alliance, is expected to be practiced. This will be their first exercise after their creation on July 1, 2024. The scenario simulates the occurrence of a "conflict with an almost equal adversary."

According to the staff of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, it should show that the ARF is capable of "complex operations at a distance of thousands of kilometers in Eastern Europe and in any environment."

Steadfast Dart 2025 will be led by the UK. It is emphasized that "this important exercise will demonstrate the Alliance's readiness, capability and commitment to defend every inch of NATO territory."

Read more in an exclusive Izvestia piece:

Romania's frontier: what NATO troops are going to practice at the Steadfast Dart 2025 exercise