In June NATO is planning to execute large military manoeuvres in Poland, called Operation Anaconda 2016. More than 25,000 soldiers from 24 countries are expected to participate in this exercise, making it one of the biggest exercises NATO has been holding in recent years. The participating countries will be including Albania, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
 |
| German troops on exercise |
Anaconda 2016 is a Polish national exercise that seeks to train, exercise and integrate the Polish national command and force structures into an allied, joint, multinational environment. The exercise will also support assurance and deterrence by demonstrating allied defence capabilities to deploy mass and sustain combat power.
Analysis
Operation Anaconda 2016 shows how NATO is starting to adapt to the new geopolitical and strategic realities in Eastern Europe. Currently the Polish Army is one of the biggest within NATO and is placed in a central position in Eastern Europe. Poland shares borders with Ukraine, Belarus and Kaliningrad and the Suwalki Gapis the only overland connection between Eastern Europe and the Baltic States.
This makes Poland a very strategic partner in Eastern Europe and almost every possible conflict in Eastern Europe or the Baltic Region will also influence Poland to take action. Thus Poland will be the strategic partner and most likely the leading nation in a potential conflict.
It is important that Poland learns how to coordinate and integrate allied troops in its command and force structures and exercises like Operation Anaconda 2016 will not only train NATO in how to operate in Eastern Europe but will also give valuable experience for Poland to take the leading role in defending Eastern Europe.
Operation Anaconda is not a new operation and it is being held every year. What is important to notice is that the exercise continues to grow in size. During Anaconda 2014 the total amount of troops involved was 12,500 with only 750 soldiers coming from 8 NATO members. For Anaconda 2016 this amount is doubled to 25,000 soldiers. The true size of Polish versus allied troops is currently not known but it is already confirmed that Germany plans to send 400 soldiers at Anaconda 2016.
NATO will also be holding its naval BALTOPS in the Baltic Sea at the same time as Operation Anaconda 2016, making June a month where NATO will be showing a strong deterrence and commitment to the defence of Europe’s eastern flank.
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BalticDefenseBlog/
