2023-10-22 21:45:57
Every year NATO practices nuclear war, this time over the northern Adriatic and the Tyrrhenian Sea between Sardinia and Sicily. The “Steadfast Noon” exercise began last week, and 60 aircraft from 13 member states will be training until Thursday on how to bring the American nuclear bombs stored in Europe to the target in an emergency.
Thomas Gutschker
Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.
The exercise sends “a clear signal that NATO will protect and defend its allies,” said Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance’s secretary general. This, in turn, is part of a new strategy that has only been in place for two years: the alliance itself is informing about the exercise, which was previously top secret. This year it goes one step further. For the first time, the FAZ and two other international newspapers were able to discuss details with those responsible.
The most sensitive point is always the scenario on which the exercise is based. Of course, the alliance’s nuclear deterrence must be directed primarily against Russia, whose President Vladimir Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons several times since the beginning of his attack on Ukraine. NATO is still sticking to its cautious rhetoric.
Scenarios serve as a stress test
“We don’t practice scenarios against Russia,” says Jessica Cox, director of nuclear planning at NATO’s political headquarters, “but we try to practice in a realistic way.” You can understand it like this: In the script of the maneuver, the attack is directed against a fictitious country. But the challenges facing the attacking pilots replicate real-world Russian capabilities.
Colonel David Bunch, who is responsible for nuclear operations at the military headquarters of the Alliance for Europe, explains it this way: These are operations in a “highly contested environment.” This affects all dimensions of warfare, defense systems on the ground as well as cyberspace. “We take up the weapons, we test our command and operational procedures right up to the political control level.” The scenarios served as a stress test. This means that simulated failures occur, which then have to be replaced. As with every exercise, there is a red and a blue team; the red team is the opponent trying to repel an attack.
This, in turn, should not be imagined as if NATO were sending a single fighter plane with a nuclear bomb flying low to its target. “There is a comprehensive air and ground package that would support such a nuclear use,” Cox explains, “to ensure that the aircraft reaches its destination and returns safely.” That’s why the five member states that can drop American atomic bombs with their aircraft are not practicing alone – these are Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey.
The word “nuclear” increases attention
Other allies provide support with fighter planes and aircraft that can detect, disrupt and destroy radar systems on the ground. This association is called SNOWCAT, the acronym for Support of Nuclear Operations with Conventional Air Tactics. The principle is similar to that of an aircraft carrier: it only operates in conjunction with a dozen ships that protect it.
To an outside observer, a nuclear weapons exercise would hardly differ from a conventional maneuver, says Colonel Bunch, who has twenty years of experience in nuclear operations. “But it’s a big difference for us. As soon as you add the word nuclear to something, the level of attention increases, and for good reasons.” Anyone who takes part in such a maneuver understands “the special trust and confidentiality” that comes with it. It is also about cohesion: “Nuclear participation” is shared responsibility.
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