UK to deploy 20,000 troops alongside Nato allies in major show of strength
Britain is sending a task force of 20,000 to take part in the biggest Nato exercise since the Cold War which aims to make the alliance battle-ready at an increasingly dangerous time with conflicts raging in the Middle East and Ukraine. The UK contingent, from the army, Royal Navy and the RAF will provide almost half of the 41,000 service personnel which will take part in Operation Steadfast Defender which will have a multinational deployment of up to 50 warships, and dozens of aircraft, carrying out 700 air combat missions. The drills taking place across Germany, Poland and the Baltics on Nato’s 75th year are part of an urgent push for the alliance to change from essentially a crisis-response unit to full combat stance at short notice. The war games, using real-time geographical data to create more realistic scenarios for troops, will be aimed at countering an enemy coalition led by Russia, named “Ocassus” for the occasion, carrying out aggression against member states. But it will also be partly focused on dealing with hostile armed …