OSLO, Oct. 10 -- About 50,000 troops from 31 countries will participate in NATO's Trident Juncture 2018 exercise in Norway from Oct. 25 to Nov. 7, the Norwegian Armed Forces said on Wednesday.
All 29 NATO member nations and its partners Sweden and Finland, with around 150 aircraft, 65 vessels and up to 10,000 vehicles, will take part in the exercise, which would be the alliance's biggest maneuvers since the Cold War.
"The exercise will test the whole military chain - from troop training at the tactical level, to command over large forces," the Norwegian Armed Forces said on its website.
Collective defence has become a more prominent feature of NATO due to the changes in the global security situation since 2017, the Norwegian military said, adding that the exercise will help "to ensure that NATO forces are trained and ready, display our collective capabilities and to show that NATO stands strong."
"NATO exercises are not directed against any specific country or region. This exercise is about making sure our forces can work seamlessly together in a crisis, anywhere in the alliance," it said.
The United States has decided to send its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman to join the Trident Juncture 2018 exercise, which will be held in central and eastern Norway and the surrounding areas of the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, including Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden.