Nato's 'biggest allied air exercises in decades' plays out a Nato Article 5 scenario

Never before have so many countries' planes left home bases for one Nato exercise, one of the biggest for decades.

As fighting continues in Ukraine, the German-led multinational air exercise, Air Defender 23 has been playing out a Nato Article 5 scenario.

Under Article 5 "the parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all".

• RAF jets join Nato's largest deployment of aircraft since the Cold War
• Huge Nato air exercise under way that could cause travel chaos for holidaymakers
• The RAF unit driving Soviet-era missile systems in the Arctic Circle to act as the 'bad guys'

If triggered, Article 5 allows such actions as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.

Involving 10,000 personnel from 25 nations and nearly 250 aircraft, Exercise Air Defender 23 has been called "essential to enable interoperability among Nato air forces" by an alliance military official.

The multinational air exercise in the skies over Germany has, however, continued to prompt reports of potential air travel chaos.

Billed as the biggest air force deployment since the formation of Nato, the exercise runs until 22 June.

A Nato military official said: "Air Defender 2023 is one of the biggest allied air exercises in decades.

"As such it is a key event offering large-scale flying training to participants from 25 nations.

"This is essential to enable interoperability among Nato air forces and the deployment of reinforcements from across the Atlantic."