Air Defender 23: NATO's biggest-ever exercise
Air forces from 25 countries are participating in the Air Defender 23 exercise in Germany. It is the largest air force drill in NATO's history.
Ready for take-off
Transport aircraft kicked off the exercise: At the start of Air Defender 2023, these Bundeswehr A400M aircraft took off from Wunstorf Air Base in Lower Saxony on Monday.
High flyer
A Tornado fighter jet takes off from Schleswig Air Base in Jagel. For the next two weeks, 25 nations will be practicing how to repel a fictitious attack. In addition to NATO member states, Japan and Sweden are also taking part in the exercise under German leadership. The transfer of aircraft is also being rehearsed, for example from the United States to Germany.
Common cause
Final check: A soldier boards an Air Force Airbus at Wunstorf Air Base. The airport in Lower Saxony is the logistical center of the drill, which, according to the German Armed Forces, will involve 10,000 soldiers and nearly 250 aircraft, including 70 aircraft from Germany until June 23.
Circuit training
On a smartphone, the app "flightradar24" shows the flight path of a Dutch military aircraft over Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Monday, which made several rounds over Wismar, Güstrow and Schwerin. Air Defender takes place over parts of northern, eastern and southwestern Germany, as well as over the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
Hassle in Hamburg
2,000 flights are planned over the course of the exercise which will have an impact on civil aviation. Parts of German airspace will be repeatedly closed for the drill; the display board at Hamburg Airport already showed numerous delays and cancellations on Monday. It is not yet clear exactly to what extent the large-scale maneuver will affect civil air traffic.
A close watch
Onlookers watch the takeoff of a Tornado fighter jet at the fence of Schleswig Air Base. At the airports in Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Nuremberg and Cologne/Bonn, the air force exercise has not yet had any consequences for passengers. However, the air traffic industry expects an increase in disruptions over the next few days.
A sign of peace
Participants in a protest organized by the Die Linke party against the military exercise form a peace sign. The German Armed Forces wants to avoid provoking Russia: "We are doing everything to ensure that it does not have an escalating effect," said Ingo Gerhartz, head of the German Air Force. For example, he said, there would be no flights in the direction of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
Air Defender 23: 'A good sign'
Eva Högl, the parliamentary commissioner for the Armed Forces of Germany, sees Air Defender as a message to Moscow. Russia's attack on Ukraine shows how important the exercise is, she said at the Wunstorf air base. In addition, she described the military exercise as a "very good sign" for trans-Atlantic defense capabilities.