21st Century Warfare (II)

BERLIN/WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Own report) – Today, NATO’s “Very High Readiness Joint Task Force” (VJTF), with its significant contingent of German troops, will launch a series of maneuvers to prepare for its role as “Spearhead” in the alliance’s future war operations. A first “performance test” will be conducted until Friday, followed by the two-part “Noble Jump” exercises. The training will focus on alerting the elite troops and on their rapid relocation within NATO territory, with the official objective being to prevent “terrorists” from advancing onto the territory of an allied country and provoking a “government crisis.” The culmination of this year’s maneuvers will be the “Trident Juncture” exercise in September. Twenty-five thousand soldiers are expected to participate, training for a war of intervention in a fictitious country at the Horn of Africa. The western troops will not only be confronting a guerilla army but will also encounter chemical warfare, food insecurity, and have to channel population displacements. According to NATO, “lessons” have been learned from the military operations in Afghanistan and the “contemporary conflicts” such as in Ukraine.