Letztes Jahre hatte Defender Europe 2020 das größte Manöver in Europa nach dem vermeintlichen Ende des Kalten Krieges werden sollen, bis Corona einen Strich durch die Übung machte (siehe IMI-Analyse 2020/002). Nachdem schon im Januar waren einige Details über die diesjährige – etwas abgespeckte – Variante bekannt geworden (siehe IMI-Aktuell 2021/038). Gestern veröffentlichte die US-Armee eine Pressemitteilung mit weiteren Details, einschließlich Zeitplan und einzelnen Teilübungen: „More than 30,000 multinational forces from 27 nations will conduct nearly simultaneous operations across more than 30 training areas in a dozen countries. […] DEFENDER-Europe 21 will encompass several linked exercises, to include:
- Swift Response (early to mid-May) – will include airborne operations in Estonia, Bulgaria and Romania involving more than 7,000 troops from 11 countries.
- Immediate Response (mid-May through early-June) – more than 5,000 troops from 8 countries will spread out across 31 training areas in 12 different countries to conduct live fire training. A Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore operation will also occur.
- Saber Guardian (mid-May through early-June) – more than 13,000 service members from 19 countries will conduct live fire and air and missile defense operations, plus a large scale medical evacuation.
- Command Post Exercise (June) – approximately 2,000 personnel will exercise the headquarters’ ability to command multinational land forces in a joint and combined training environment while maintaining real-world operations across 104 countries on two continents.” (jw)
