Steadfast Defender 24:UK Makes Major Commitment

The UK Ministry of Defence laid out its plans in the massive NATO Exercise Steadfast Defender 24 on 15 January 2024.Said the Ministry:In the context of our ever more dangerous world,the Secretary of State for Defence,Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP,will deliver a major speech at Lancaster House today to set out his vision for the UK to deter threats,lead among Allies and defend the UK...the Defence Secretary is expected to announce that in the first half of 2024,20,000 service personnel from the Royal Navy,the British Army,and the Royal Air Force will deploy across Europe to take part in Exercise Steadfast Defender 24.*The drills will see the UK Armed Forces join 70,000 other NATO troops from 31 NATO Allies and candidate Sweden to operate across multiple countries coinciding with the Alliance's 75th Anniversary.This deployment will feature the RAF's most advanced fighter jets and surveillance aircraft,the RN's most advanced warships and submarines,and the full range of the Army's capabilities-from logistics to armour to Special Operations Forces.*Mr.Shapps' remarks are expected to say:We are in a new era and we must be prepared to deter our enemies,lead our Allies and be prepared to defend our nations whenever the call comes.Today our adversaries are busily rebuilding their barriers.Old enemies are reanimated.Battle lines are being redrawn.The tanks are literally on Ukraine's lawn.And the foundations of the world are being shaken to their core.We stand at a crossroads...providing vital reassurance against the Putin menace.*Mr.Shapps noted that deploying this year is 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team...which will be operating across Europe to deliver one of the largest NATO deployments since the Cold War.Steadfast Defender 24 will deliver on the promises made at the 2023 NATO Vilnius Summit.The RN will be deploying eight warships and submarines and more than 2,000 Sailors.A UK carrier Strike Group,centred on a QE Class aircraft carrier and her air group of F-35B Lightning jets and helicopters,will operate as part of a potent Naval Force of Allied warships and submarines in the North Atlantic,the Norwegian Sea,and the Baltics.More than 400 Royal Marines Commandos will be deployed to the Arctic Circle at the heart of our Allied Amphibious Task Group designed to land in the High North and defend the Alliance in one of the world's harshest environments.Sixteen thousand troops from the British Army will be deployed across Eastern Europe from February to June 2024,taking with them tanks,artillery,helicopters,and parachutes.There will be live-fire manoeuvres,parachute jumps,an Army and Navy joint helicopter force,and Army Special Operations Forces on deployment.The British Army will deploy to test and strengthen the readiness of the UK's Land Forces in defending NATO,and to bolster its ability to operate jointly with Allied Armed Forces.*The RAF will be making use of some of its most cutting-edge aircraft,including F-35B Lightning attack aircraft and Poseidon P8 surveillance aircraft.The RAF will practise flying simulated conflict scenarios against near-peer adversaries,proving its ability to defer and defend against threats.*It is known that SD24 will practise a reinforcement of Europe from North America across the Atlantic Ocean.*More context:There is suspicion that Russia has not only been jamming Ukraine with Electronic Warfare,but NATO Allies as well.The Washington think tank Institue for the Study of War (ISW) noted high levels of GPS interference in Poland on 10 and 16 January 2024,and in the Baltic Sea Region between 25 and 27 December 2023.Several analysts believe it was likely Russia attempting to wage hybrid warfare against NATO.The ISW also noted that Putin has been sharply critical of the Baltic States recently for their perceived mistreatment of ethnic Russians living in them-an expansionist vision of Russian Federation sovereignty.ISW said that Putin:notably amplified a long-standing Kremlin effort to set information conditions for future escalations against the Baltic countries,likely as part of his wider effort to weaken NATO.