The "Air Defender 23" joint military exercise, which began on 12 June 2023 and coordinated by Germany, was successfully concluded today. It's the largest deployment of air forces in Europe in the history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), with around 250 aircraft involved and 10,000 soldiers from 25 countries. The goal was to enhance the capacity for interaction between the Allies, especially in the face of potential threats from Russia.

"The exercise was a complete success, not only from a tactical point of view, but also from an organizational point of view", commented the Chief of Staff of the German Air Force, General Ingo Gerhartz, during a press conference organized at the Jagel Air Base.

"We have demonstrated -he added- that the Allies are capable of moving large quantities of military equipment in a few days and can therefore hold out for a two-week large-scale exercise. Furthermore, there have been no problems for regular air traffic : Thanks to the good planning of German air traffic control, there were no flight cancellations in civilian air traffic and the delays were only a few minutes".