By Atlantic Reports

Three German Tornado fighter jets will participate in NATO’s annual nuclear defence exercise, Steadfast Noon, which begins in Italy on Tuesday and runs for about a week and a half.

The German Air Force said the aircraft would deploy from their usual base in Büchel, in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Personnel from 17 countries are expected to participate in the exercise, which NATO says is intended to demonstrate the alliance’s readiness and ability to defend its territory.

NATO has not disclosed the exercise scenario. It said the scale would be comparable to last year’s drill, which involved around 2,000 personnel and more than 70 aircraft. Those figures describe the previous exercise, rather than confirmed totals for this year.

The alliance’s head of nuclear policy, Nassima Barrows, said last week that no real nuclear weapons would be used.

NATO also said the exercise was not linked to current events or directed at any particular country.

The drills, held regularly in October, rehearse procedures associated with the alliance’s nuclear deterrence mission.

According to military experts cited in the supplied account, these include practising the safe movement of weapons from underground storage facilities to aircraft and mounting them on fighter jets. Practice bombs without nuclear warheads are used.

The exercise therefore tests personnel, aircraft and handling procedures without a live nuclear detonation or the use of live nuclear weapons.

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