NATO/OTAN (Northern Treaty Organization) began an air mobilization exercise today, announced as the largest in the organization's history and hosted in northern Germany.

The work is called Air Defender 23 and will run until June 23. It was designed a long time ago, but currently serves to demonstrate its power to Russia. It was due to take place in 2018, after Russia's annexation of Crimea.

250 aircraft and 10,000 personnel from 25 countries have been deployed for the exercises, two of which are not part of the alliance, Sweden and Japan, according to the RDP. The United States alone is participating with 2,000 US Air National Guard personnel and around 100 aircraft.

The deployment exercises aim to simulate a possible invasion of a NATO ally.

"The exercise is a signal to us, the NATO countries, but also to our population, that we are in a position to react very quickly (...) that we would be able to defend the alliance in the event of an attack," said Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, head of the German air force.

The exercise is limited to three zones that will not all be used at the same time and will end before the start of the school vacations in any German state. (timesofisrael)