NATO Launches Largest Military Training in Europe Since End of Cold War

U.S. and Polish paratroopers drop in to the Hohenberg Drop Zone on the Army's Hohenfels Training Area during a training event in October 2011. Photo: www.army.mil

The US announced that it has launched the largest airborne military training of NATO in Europe since the end of the Cold War - Swift Response 15.

More than 4800 troops from eleven member countries of NATO are participating in simultaneous multinational airborne operations taking place across Bulgaria, Romania, Germany and Italy, which are going to last for four weeks between August 17 and September 13.

The goal of the training is to integrate the high-readiness forces of NATO to operate as a cohesive team and demonstrate the capacity of the alliance to rapidly deploy and operate in support of maintaining a strong and secure Europe.

The statement has not made an explicit reference to the lasting conflict in Ukraine, where fighting between the government forces and pro-Russian separatists has escalated in the recent days.

The troops participating in the training, which is led by the US army, will be from Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the UK and the USA.

The culmination of Swift Response is expected to be on August 26, when simultaneous airborne joint forced entries into Bulgaria's Novo Selo Training Area and Germany's Hohenfels Training Area are scheduled to take place.

The drills will conclude by multinational platoon and company live fire at the Grafenwohr Training Area in Germany.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!