NATO starts annual Steadfast Noon nuclear drill with 17 allies, Germany sends Tornados to Italy
The exercise runs from 13 to 23 October and uses only training bombs without nuclear warheads. Russia's embassy in Belgium has rejected it, saying such drills do not reduce tensions.
Exercise opens with 17 allies
NATO began its annual Steadfast Noon exercise on Tuesday, 13 October, a spokesperson for the military headquarters in Mons, Belgium, confirmed. Forces from 17 member states are taking part, and the drill is scheduled to run until 23 October. It practises procedures for nuclear defence, and according to military experts it covers moving weapons safely from underground storage to aircraft and fitting them under fighter jets. Only training bombs without nuclear warheads are used during these procedures and in the simulated attacks that follow. NATO said the scale is comparable with last year, when it reported about 2,000 military personnel and more than 70 aircraft, including F-35 fighters, plus surveillance and refuelling planes.
Participation and the allied mix
Seventeen allies take part this year, against 14 in 2025 and 13 in 2024. Turkey is participating, and the United States is present with flight crews and maintenance personnel. France stays out because it has not joined NATO's Nuclear Planning Group, but ten European countries have joined the 'advanced deterrence' initiative launched by President Emmanuel Macron, which NATO regards as complementary to allied nuclear deterrence. In recent years the exercise was hosted mainly by the Netherlands in 2025, by Belgium and the Netherlands in 2024, and by Italy together with Croatia in 2023.
- 2024
- 13 countries
- 2025
- 14 countries
- 2026
- 17 countries
Germany, Italy and the flight paths
Germany has sent three Tornado jets from Tactical Air Wing 33 to Aviano Air Base in northern Italy, and the Luftwaffe says several dozen German personnel are involved. The Tornados are normally based at Büchel in Rhineland-Palatinate, where according to unofficial information US nuclear weapons are stored, and German fighter-bombers could drop them in an emergency under NATO's nuclear sharing arrangements. Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands are also considered storage sites for US nuclear weapons in Europe. Over Italy, the tracking service Itamilradar recorded refuelling activity over the Tyrrhenian Sea between the mainland and Sardinia, with Pratica di Mare serving as the reference base. The tracked aircraft included a German Airbus A400M, an Italian Boeing KC-767A tanker, a NATO Airbus A330 MRTT and an Italian Gulfstream E.550 CAEW over Sardinia, while a Boeing E-3A Sentry flew over the western Mediterranean. Fighter jets also take part, but their movements cannot be identified because combat aircraft can operate without publicly accessible identification data.
How Italy learned of the drill
Italian lawmakers learned of the exercise through an unusual route. Angelo Bonelli, a deputy from the Greens and Left Alliance (AVS), made it public on 7 October from a technical notice issued by Enav, the company that manages civil air traffic. Bonelli said he had not learned of the drill from the government, announced a parliamentary question to Defence Minister Guido Crosetto and called for the withdrawal of nuclear warheads from Italian territory. The Italian Air Force said the exercise follows ordinary, routine programming and is not linked to specific crises, and Italy has hosted it six times since 2010. The Enav notice does not mention nuclear weapons, but it reserves airspace over the Tyrrhenian Sea for firing and drone activity on 13, 14, 16 and 20 October. Its map connects five bases, including Ghedi and Aviano, where US nuclear bombs are reportedly deployed, a claim that neither NATO nor Rome officially confirms.
- Italian MP Angelo Bonelli makes the drill public from an Enav air traffic notice
- Exercise begins with 17 allies, with aircraft already flying over the Tyrrhenian Sea
- Fourth and last of the reserved airspace days over the Tyrrhenian Sea in the Enav notice
- Scheduled end of the exercise
Russian reaction and expert doubts
NATO presents the drill as routine and unrelated to current events, although its threat assessment has focused on Russia for years. Moscow answered NATO exercises held in August near Kaliningrad with a threatening letter, and earlier it warned it could use its entire military arsenal, including nuclear weapons. The Russian embassy in Belgium rejected this year's drill, arguing that such exercises do not help reduce tensions because NATO considers Russia its main threat. Nassima Barrows, NATO's head of nuclear policy, described the drill as predictable and said there is no reason for miscalculation. General Leonardo Tricarico, a former chief of staff of the Italian Air Force, said it is clear the aim is to send a warning to Putin.
