Steadfast Noon:
NATO’s annual nuclear deterrence exercise, Steadfast Noon, will be hosted by the Netherlands this year.
- Steadfast Noon is an annual nuclear exercise by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
- It is an important test for the alliance’s nuclear deterrent.
- It is hosted by a different NATO country each year.
- The 2025 edition of the exercise is being hosted by the Netherlands, with Volkel Air Base serving as the main operating site.
- Bases at Kleine Brogel in Belgium, Lakenheath in Britain, and Skrydstrup in Denmark will also be involved.
- Those nations, as well as Finland, Poland, the United States, and Germany, are among the participants.
- It will involve around 70 aircraft from 14 allied nations, including both conventional and dual-capable aircraft.
- Dual-capable aircraft refers to aircraft that can deliver both conventional and nuclear weapons, which includes Germany’s Tornado, as well as the American and Dutch F-35 jets.
- The exercise won’t use any actual nuclear weapons.
- Pilots and aircraft involved in the exercise are certified for the nuclear mission, but no weapons are loaded or flown.
- France isn’t participating in the exercise, as the country keeps its nuclear forces separate from NATO’s command-and-control structure and decision-making process.
