NATO will begin its largest exercise since the Cold War next week, with approximately 90,000 personnel participating in the months-long war games, according to General Chris Cavoli, the alliance’s top commander. The drills will focus on NATO’s regional defence plans, which detail how the alliance would respond to a potential Russian attack. The wargames will involve more than 50 ships, over 80 fighter jets, and at least 1,100 combat vehicles. “Steadfast Defender 2024 will demonstrate NATO’s ability to rapidly deploy forces to reinforce the defence of Europe,” NATO stated. The exercise will include a “simulated emerging conflict scenario with a near-peer adversary” and will last until the end of May. The focus of the second part of the exercise will be on deploying NATO’s quick reaction force to Poland. The Baltic states, Germany, Norway, and Romania will also be locations for the drills, with troops from NATO countries and Sweden taking part. The adoption of regional defence plans came after the 2023 NATO summit, marking a significant shift from the alliance’s previous focus on conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan and a shift in perception of the threat from Russia. The last time NATO conducted exercises of a similar scale were the Reforger drills in 1988 and the Trident Juncture exercises in 2018.