{"id":68421,"date":"2021-05-30T18:25:56","date_gmt":"2021-05-30T18:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/05\/30\/as-russia-tensions-simmer-nato-conducts-massive-war-games\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:03:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:03:28","slug":"as-russia-tensions-simmer-nato-conducts-massive-war-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2021\/05\/30\/as-russia-tensions-simmer-nato-conducts-massive-war-games\/","title":{"rendered":"As Russia tensions simmer, NATO conducts massive war games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ABOARD HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH \u2014 As tensions with Russia simmer, thousands of NATO troops, several warships and dozens of aircraft are taking part in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2021\/03\/15\/massive-army-led-nato-exercise-defender-europe-kicks-off\/\" target=\"_blank\">military exercises<\/a> stretching across the Atlantic, through Europe and into the Black Sea region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The war games, dubbed Steadfast Defender 21, are aimed at simulating the 30-nation military organization\u2019s response to an attack on any one of its members. It will test NATO\u2019s ability to deploy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2021\/05\/05\/army-fires-are-at-the-center-of-a-major-nato-exercise-as-russia-watches\/\" target=\"_blank\">troops from America<\/a> and keep supply lines open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Already in recent years, the United States and its allies have deployed troops and equipment in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to try to reassure those members neighboring Russia that their partners will ride to the rescue should they come under attack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russia\u2019s decision last month to send <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2021\/04\/22\/russia-orders-troop-pullback-but-keeps-weapons-near-ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\">thousands of troops to the border area with Ukraine<\/a> has raised concern at the military alliance, which launched one of its biggest ever defense spending initiatives after Russian troops annexed Ukraine\u2019s Crimean Peninsula in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/05\/20\/us-russia-hold-parallel-military-drills-in-the-balkans\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6646824.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US, Russia hold parallel military drills in the Balkans<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Serbia-Russia exercises at a training ground near Belgrade comes as large-scale U.S. Army-led drills dubbed Defender Europe 2021 are held across Europe.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Top NATO brass insist that the military exercises, involving some 9,000 troops from 20 nations, are not aimed at Russia specifically, but they focus on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2021\/04\/29\/us-army-led-nato-military-exercises-launched-in-albania\/\" target=\"_blank\">the Black Sea region<\/a>, where Russia stands accused of blocking the free navigation of ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the exercises send an important message to any potential adversary: \u201cNATO is ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNATO is there to defend all our allies, and this exercise sends a message about our ability to transport a large number of troops, equipment across the Atlantic, across Europe and also to project maritime power,\u201d Stoltenberg told The Associated Press aboard a British aircraft carrier off the coast of Portugal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ship, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, is the pride of the British Navy. It\u2019s making its maiden voyage and carrying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/marine-corps-times\/2020\/10\/30\/marine-f-35s-deploy-on-uks-newest-aircraft-carrier-queen-elizabeth\/\" target=\"_blank\">18 F-35 jets:<\/a> the first ever deployment of so many of the 5th generation planes aboard an aircraft carrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1335\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21148305618131.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-57923\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21148305618131.jpg.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21148305618131.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21148305618131.jpg.jpg?resize=768,513 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21148305618131.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,684 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21148305618131.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A pilot maneuvers an F-35 jet as military personnel participate in the NATO Steadfast Defender 2021 exercise on the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth off the coast of Portugal on May 27, 2021. (Ana Brigida\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ship\u2019s presence, part of a 6-7 month deployment that will take it south past India, through Southeast Asia to the Philippines Sea, is aimed in part at restoring Britain\u2019s tarnished image as a major global power since it left the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adorned with high-tech U.S. jets and flanked by warships from other NATO countries, the carrier strike force also stands as an important symbol of unity as the world\u2019s biggest security organization tries to recover from four tumultuous years under the Trump administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stoltenberg will chair a NATO summit in Brussels on June 14 with current U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts keen to usher in a new era of trans-Atlantic cooperation, as troops leave its longest-ever mission in Afghanistan while tensions with Russia, and increasingly China, mount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The war games tie in two new NATO command centers, one in Norfolk, Virginia; the other in Ulm, Germany. Part of the focus of its first phase was to protect the undersea cables that carry masses of commercial and communications data between the U.S. and Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NATO says Russia is mapping the cables\u2019 routing and might have darker intentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe all lulled ourselves into thinking that the Atlantic was a benign region in which there was not anything bad going on, and we could just use it as a free highway,\u201d Norfolk\u2019s commander, U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere are nations are out there mapping those cables. They may be doing something else bad. We have to be aware of that and answer that,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1291\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21148305400290.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-101079\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21148305400290.jpg.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21148305400290.jpg.jpg?resize=300,194 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21148305400290.jpg.jpg?resize=768,496 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21148305400290.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,661 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21148305400290.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,991 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A ship is seen off the deck of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth as it participates in the NATO Steadfast Defender 2021 exercise off the coast of Portugal on May 27, 2021. (Ana Brigida\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NATO says its policy toward Russia is based on two pillars: strong military deterrence and dialogue. But high-level meetings between the two historic foes are rare, and European officials insist that President Vladimir Putin is turning increasingly authoritarian and distancing himself from the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re ready to sit down with Russia, because we think it\u2019s important to talk, especially when times are difficult,\u201d Stoltenberg said. \u201cThe main challenge now is that Russia has not responded positively to our invitation, or our initiative, for a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council,\u201d their top consultative forum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The war games, dubbed Steadfast Defender 21, are aimed at simulating the 30-nation military organization\u2019s response to an attack on any one of its 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By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>As Russia tensions simmer, NATO conducts massive war games - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The war games, dubbed Steadfast Defender 21, are aimed at simulating the 30-nation military organization\u2019s response to an attack on any one of its members.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As Russia tensions simmer, NATO conducts massive war games\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The war games, dubbed Steadfast Defender 21, are aimed at simulating the 30-nation military organization\u2019s response to an attack on any one of its members.\" 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