NATO Nuclear Exercise Openness: Why Now?

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  Kysia Hekster

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Only when the F35 has flown away does the deafening sound of the jet engine boom over the runway of the Volkel military air base. This is the location for practice these weeks Steadfast NoonNATO’s annual nuclear exercise. Seventy fighter planes from thirteen countries are participating, with 2,000 participants. The exercise will last until Friday.

“This mission is really about conveying that we will really use nuclear weapons in extreme cases if necessary,” says Marcel van Egmond, commander of the Air Combat Command. This air combat command includes all locations with combat aircraft and unmanned systems.

That appearance is important according to Van Egmond. “If you want to deter, you have to be well trained and show that you can do it, because only then will the opponent believe you and then they will think twice or three times.”

No one wants to confirm it, but the enemy being fought during the exercise is Russia. “And you can bet that the Russians are watching,” says pilot Bram, commander of the exercise. That is precisely the intention of NATO, which has invited journalists to watch for the first time in the history of the alliance.

“That suits the times,” says the American head of NATO’s nuclear department, Daniel Bunch. “That has nothing to do with saber-rattling. We think it is important that we show our public what we do, we want to be transparent.”

To get an idea of ​​the exercise, four Dutch F35s and two German Tornados take off. Fake nuclear bombs are used for the exercise, but they are not on board the fighter planes today for “safety reasons”.

Last summer, the NATO summit in The Hague decided that all 32 allies must spend at least 5 percent on their own defense. Of this, 3.5 percent goes to hard military expenditure and 1.5 percent to matters related to defense. The latter also includes, for example, strengthening bridges so that tanks can drive over them.

The large investments in defense were a demand of American President Trump. They no longer want to pay for the defense of Europeans and believe that they should take responsibility for this themselves, after decades of budget cuts.

These are gigantic amounts of money. For the Netherlands, this means around 19 billion euros extra for defense every year. Increased defense spending also plays a role in the election campaign. Because where is that money going to come from? Should taxes go up, benefits go down or should billions be borrowed?

The reasoning is that the relative openness of NATO will allow the almost 1 billion inhabitants of the 32 countries to have a better idea of ​​what their money is being spent on. Numerous videos on social media and the NATO website are also intended to increase support for the alliance. “We are delivering in uncertain times, but through NATO you can rest assured that our way of life is protected,” is the message of one of the videos, which shows a little boy having breakfast and petting his dog.

Not everyone is convinced. Last week, five protesters were arrested while trying to dig a tunnel under the base’s fence. They wanted to plant trees at the beginning of the runway and stop the nuclear exercise.

“That is exactly what we defend,” says Commander Van Egmond, “Our democracy and freedom of expression. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion. We are very proud of that in the Netherlands.”