Steadfast Noon:NATO's Annual Nuclear Drills Visit Southern Europe

NATO's nuclear exercise Steadfast Noon began on 16 October 2023 and runs until 26 October.The manoeuvres are being participated in by 13 NATO Allies.The US has sent Boeing B-52H Stratofortress strategic bombers to Europe directly from a US base.The drills are being supported by conventional aircraft.No live nuclear weapons are included in the annual autumn event.Flights simulating NATO's response to a nuclear attack are taking place in Southern Europe this year,including Italy,Croatia and the Mediterranean Sea.Said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg:Our exercise will help to ensure the credibility,effectiveness and security of our nuclear deterrent.* Most of the drills are held at least 1,000 km/621.37 mi from Russian borders and are not linked to current events.According to NATO's Strategic Concept:the fundamental purpose of NATO's nuclear capability is to preserve peace,prevent coercion and deter aggression.*NATO'S nuclear deterrent has two layers:1.Strategic National Forces of the US,UK and France and 2.the Dual Capable Aircraft (DCA) programme,which identifies fighter aircraft with both nuclear and conventional capability.Under the nuclear sharing programme,the US provides tactical nuclear weapons,the B61-12 nuclear gravity bombs,to the following NATO Allies:Belgium,Germany,Italy,the Netherlands and Turkey.These bombs are kept in hardened storage bunkers.The bombs are under custody and control of US Air Force Munitions Support Squadrons co-located on NATO major operating bases.The MSS's work together with host nation Forces.The current DCA are the Panavia PA-200 Tornado IDS and the Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon.The nuclear weapon shelters use the US Air Force W53 Weapon Storage and Security System.Germany plans to phase in the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter DCA when it retires the Tornados in 2024.*According to NATO,the credibility of the Alliance's Nuclear Forces is central to maintaining deterrence,which is why the safety,security and effectiveness of these Forces are constantly evaluated in light of technological and geo-strategic evolutions.The Nuclear Planning Group remains the forum for consultation on NATO's nuclear deterrence.The Alliance reaffirms the unique and distinctive role of nuclear deterrence and maintains credible deterrence;strengthens strategic communications;and enhances the effectiveness of its drills,while reducing strategic risks.At the extraordinary Summit of March 2022,after Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine,NATO committed to enhancing preparedness and readiness for chemical,biological,radiological and nuclear threats.* Context:According to NATO's Strategic Concept,approved at the 2022 NATO Madrid Summit:The Russian Federation is the most significant and direct threat to Allies' peace and security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic Area.It seeks to establish spheres of influence and direct control through coercion,subversion,aggression and annexation.It uses conventional,cyber and hybrid means against us and our partners.Its coercive military posture,rhetoric and proven willingness to use force to pursue its political goals undermines the rules-based international order.The Russian Federation is modernising its nuclear forces and expanding its novel and destructive dual-capable delivery systems,while employing coercive nuclear signalling...We will individually and collectively deliver the full range of forces,capabilities,plans,resources,assets and infrastructure needed for deterrence and defence,including for high-intensity,multi-domain warfighting against near peer competitors...The circumstances in which NATO might have to use nuclear weapons are extremely remote.Any employment of nuclear weapons against NATO would fundamentally alter the nature of a conflict.The Alliance has the capabilities and resolve to impose costs on an adversary that would far outweigh the benefits that any adversary could hope to achieve.* Boeing (BA),Lockheed Martin (LMT)

The Combat-ready KC-46 Pegasus Brings More than Fuel to the Fight - Defense Daily

The Combat-ready KC-46 Pegasus Brings More than Fuel to the Fight - Defense Daily: The 21st century battlespace requires agile, adaptive platforms primed to serve multiple roles, including the ability to connect and protect crucial assets. As the all- domain force sets its course for data-centric operations, Boeing’s KC-46A Pegasus is evolving the strategic role of tankers to meet this new reality. Beyond its refueling and cargo, passenger or […]

Chief of Naval Operations:More Attention to Deterrence Needed Across the Warfighting Domains

The Chief of Naval Operations,ADM John Richardson,spoke to a breakfast meeting of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies on 2 July 2019 in Washington,DC.On nuclear deterrence,ADM Richardson noted:
The nuclear triad remains the foundation of our military strength.It's an incredibly powerful military capability where potentially everybody gets destroyed.We must maintain our ability to be competitive and relevant in this domain...(and to be able to) strike back at anybody who can pose an existential threat to the homeland.
More nations are seeking to join the club.The nuclear element of this mix remains very relevant,very active,and deserves more attention,in my mind.*
ADM Richardson said the US should accelerate the effort to build a cost-effective,credible successor to the Trident II D5 missile.Some nations are developing high tech nuclear weapons,while others are pursuing low tech weapons such as dirty bombs and systems manufactured with 3-D printers.*
On cyber warfare:
We have to have an ability for offensive cyber to truly achieve a sense of deterrence here.*
On space warfare:
The competition is absolutely heating up in space.Of these elements that are going to constitute a tailored strategic deterrent approach,space has got to be one of those.These things operate really fast...and space goes away as an asset.You can see a kind of mutually assured destruction scenario in space pretty easily.Have we thought about that going forward?*
Chemical/biological warfare:
One of the self-deterrent aspects of Chem/Bio is that it's very hard to control.It goes viral,if you will.But with these tailored things,you can get a lot more specific.It becomes a lot more targetable.And so it's something that we have to (keep in) mind.*
Conventional warfare:
We have better sensors,better satellites,better ways to connect that data with our command and control systems,our targeting systems.We had an advantage in terms of precision.The idea of being able to locate things is becoming more ubiquitous.It's less of an advantage.It's really the team that can manage that information better that's going to achieve the advantage.*

Outback Wargames Concluded in the Northern Territory by US Marines and Allies

US Marines with 1st Battalion,1st Marine Regiment,Marine Rotational Force-Darwin recently concluded Exercise Koolendong 16 in Australia's Northern Territory along with small contingents of their Australian and French allies.The two-week drills included live fire events;close air support;and capstone defensive live fire under chemical,biological,radiological and nuclear conditions,firing downrange while wearing protective suits and conducting a decontamination,representing an extremely austere geographical and warfighting environment.*
We are focusing on our core mission essential tasks,offense and defence,in a live fire environment and some of the harshest conditions,said Lieutenant Colonel Steven M. Sutey,company commander of MRF-D.*
HMLA-367 fulfilled the Air Combat Element of the exercise with their U1-1Y Huey helicopters.They executed several close air support evolutions;aerial command and control;armed reconnaissance;and forward air controller support for Marines on the ground.This provided MRF-D with full Marine Air-Ground Task Force assets.*
The closing drill of Koolendong 16 involved holding a battalion-size defensive position while working with the Air Combat Element for close air,and,in an extremely rare evolution,having to don gas masks as about 30 cans of CS gas were dropped into their fighting holes,adding a CBRN touch to the live fire environment,responding to CBRN conditions being one of these Marines' designated missions.*
Participating in Koolendong 16 were around 1300 US Marines and Sailors from MRF-D and 4th Marine Regiment Okinawa,Japan;100 Australian Defence Force troops from 8th/12th Australian Artillery Regiment,adding a capability the US Marines don't have in a MAGTF;and,in their first Exercise Koolagong,50 soldiers from the French Armed Forces New Caledonia infantry.