Around 20,000 soldiers from nine countries are rehearsing an emergency in Poland. The exercise is part of “Steadfast Defender” – the largest NATO exercise since the Cold War. One of the goals: a signal to Russia.
The Vistula is still in flood. In Korzeniewo, in northwestern Poland, it flows quickly and with pressure, up to six meters deep and over 300 meters wide. A few military trucks gather on the bank. They drive down the embankment and into the water, fold out pontoons and connect to form ferries.
Troop relocation train
A well-rehearsed crew only needs nine minutes to build such a ferry, explains Lieutenant Colonel Andre Burdich from the German-British Engineer Bridge Battalion 130. “And with such a quadruple ferry, we are able to ferry two battle tanks weighing over 70 tons within a very short time.”
A few minutes later the first tanks rolled onto the opposite bank of the Vistula. The amphibious vehicles, the military ferries, belong to the Bundeswehr. A few meters downstream, French and Polish ferries also transport heavy equipment across the river.
Ferries like these carry boats weighing dozens of tons across the river. Around 1,300 Bundeswehr soldiers are taking part in the exercise.
90,000 soldiers took part in maneuvers
The exercise is part of “Steadfast Defender”, the largest NATO exercise since the end of the Cold War. 90,000 soldiers are practicing the defense of the eastern border and rehearsing what to do in an emergency.
The exercise is a signal – of security internally, of deterrence externally, says Gunnar Brügner. As a brigadier general, he is jointly responsible for the exercise. “Every ship that sails, every plane that flies, every helicopter in the air, every tank that rolls sends a message.” And that is necessary: ”We show what skills we have and we combine that with the determination to use them should that become necessary.”
Good cooperation
Helicopters pull up behind him, and shortly afterwards two Polish F16 fighter jets thunder over the Vistula. After crossing the river, a 300-kilometer transport will follow to the Polish eastern border. It’s the big NATO show: For the first time in 30 years, the alliance has a strategy, says a US officer involved.
All 31 NATO countries plus Sweden are taking part in the large-scale exercise. And the cooperation is going well, says Polish General Cezary Wiśniewski – regardless of Bundeswehr wiretapping scandals or Donald Trump’s appearances that cast doubt on the reliability of the USA. And also regardless of threats from Moscow.
You always have to be ready to fight, he says. “It’s not so important what’s happening around us in politics. The military concentrates on their work, on maintaining operational capability.”
Embassy should arrive in Russia
Only off to the side, in conversations without a microphone, can one hear that the soldiers’ mood has changed and has become more serious. The defense case being tested here is no longer just theory, at least since the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Brigadier General Brügner says what has previously only been described with phrases like “enemy forces” or “the other side”: It’s about Russia. “Of course this is being observed here. That’s the point of the matter. And if this message also reaches Russia, then we’ve done our homework right here.”
After all, you watch them very closely yourself – the other side.
Martin Adam, ARD Warsaw, tagesschau, March 5th, 2024 7:21 a.m