At the Cincu training camp in Romania, NATO is holding one of its largest exercises in recent months. According to the scenario, more than 1.5 thousand soldiers from 7 allied countries will help Bucharest to repel a military attack from Russia. The maneuvers involve fighter jets and heavy artillery.
It should be noted that this training is only the first step before much broader actions. France is expected to send more than 3,500 troops to Romania next year in a record time of 10 days, and NATO wants to deploy around 25,000 troops to Romania in 2027.
The current exercise simulated an invasion of Romanian territory by the Russian army, and soldiers from the Cincu battle group were sent into battle first. The F-16s of the Romanian army and the F-18s of the Spanish armed forces took to the skies. Next, with the support of artillery and armored vehicles, American troops landed from Black Hawk helicopters.
The French NATO contingent deployed Leclerc tanks stationed in Romania. It was also the first time that unmanned aerial vehicles were used on a large scale.
“These are devices that have changed the face of warfare and the alliance must adapt as quickly as possible.” – said the commander of the Belgian troops in the NATO battle group Bart Van Dyke.
According to him, this is a new type of war that NATO is quickly learning from the example of Ukraine.
“The Russian threat is very real. We see this every day in Ukraine and we are preparing to fight such a war.” – Van Dyke emphasized.
France will host a much larger exercise in Romania in spring 2025. The scenario would be similar: a NATO country is attacked by Russia and needs help. These exercises will prepare the mission, which is planned for 2027. NATO will then try to transfer a large number of troops here from Western Europe. According to the head of the NATO battle group in Romania Jean-MichelinThe biggest problem will be the state of the roads and railways.
“When we strengthened NATO’s position here in Romania several years ago, we had to overcome many obstacles because it is impossible to move military equipment and ammunition around Europe as fast as commercial goods are moved,” – he stated.
In turn, the commander of the French troops in Romania Loic Girard He assured that all infrastructure will be created so that France can carry out its missions.
“Now here we are building many facilities, as we call them in the host country on the eastern flank, that is, in Romania. The idea is to be able to reach Romania in less than two weeks.” – Girard emphasized.
He recalled that at the last meeting of Defense Ministers, officials from Bulgaria, Romania and Türkiye decided to accelerate the implementation of military corridors in this area of Europe.
