MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The wider September 28-November 6 Trident Juncture drills involve 36,000 personnel from over 30 NATO and partner nations, spanning Western and Northern Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and Canada. Their stated aim is to train and test the high-readiness technologically advanced land, air and maritime NATO Response Force.
"Trident Juncture 2015 has been designed to ensure that our concepts and procedures will work in the event of a real crisis," Gen. Hans-Lothar Domrose, the commander of Joint Force Command Brunssum in the southeast Netherlands, said.
The October 3-November 6 event is said to be NATO’s largest exercises in 13 years and a flagship activity of the alliance’s new Connected Forces Initiative. The initiative aims to connect NATO Command and Force Structures with member states with training, exercises and technology use.
"Trident Juncture 2015 will demonstrate NATO’s new increased level of ambition in joint modern warfare and will showcase a capable, forward-leading Alliance equipped with the appropriate capability and capacity to meet present and future security challenges."
The drills’ information center has been established this week in the Spanish city of Zaragoza. Anti-NATO activists and lawmakers told Sputnik last month that Trident Juncture threatened the local population and the environment, and have launched an open assembly to reject the exercises and organize subsequent protests.
