The General Staff of the Polish Army has announced that from Monday 12 February until the end of May 2024, there will be increased traffic of military vehicles on the roads of almost the entire country, related to the NATO military exercises Steadfast Defender-24 and their Polish part Dragon-24.

Around 90,000 troops from all NATO countries and Sweden will take part in the exercises, which will take place mainly in Central Europe. The exercises will test the ability of the Alliance’s forces to deter and defend including repelling an attack by a potential adversary against NATO countries.

As part of the Steadfast Defender-24 exercise, Poland will perform the role of one of the host countries and will host a significant number of allied troops and equipment on its territory. A key element of the exercise will be the Polish national exercise Dragon-24 with the participation of the armed forces of other countries, which will already begin at the end of February/beginning of March.

According to the Polish Army, the exercise is defensive in nature and is not directed against any country but is a demonstration of the ability to counter the aggressive policy and provocative activity of the Russian Federation.

Exercise Dragon-24 will test the ability of the Polish Armed Forces to respond to a potential multidimensional armed crisis, thus contributing to strengthening the Alliance’s deterrence and defence capabilities and demonstrating the strength and determination that derives from its unity.

The exercise will involve a total of around 20,000 soldiers and 3,500 equipment units from 10 NATO countries, including around 15,000 soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces. They will be subjected to a test of interaction and execution of combat tasks on land, in the air and at sea. In addition to military operations in the cited domains, military operations in cyberspace will also be carried out.

Adrian Andrzejewski