Preparations begin for German deployment exercise to its eastern border

9th November 2023 - 15:10 GMT | by The Shephard News Team in London

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Exercise Blue Lightning will see a major deployment of German equipment. (Photo: Bundeswehr)

Blue Lightning has been described as a test for forces facing a possible Article 4 case of NATO under which ‘the territorial integrity … or security of one of the partners is threatened’.

The Blue Lightning exercise, set to begin on 13 November and run for three weeks, will see the German Army practice the transfer of military personnel and equipment to NATO’s eastern flank.

The exercise will see 2,800 soldiers training with 1,200 vehicles from a total of 17 units of the army, the medical service and the cyber, information space services and begins with a six-day alerting phase followed by an alarm.

The participating soldiers will move their equipment to an assembly point and logistical base located in the fictitious country of deployment on NATO’s eastern flank but in actuality a disused former Soviet military airfield in Mahlwinkel, Saxony-Anhalt.

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Other locations include gathering area south in Ohrdruf, Thuringia; assembly area north in Hagenow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; forward logistical base on Trollenhagen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; and army forces operational area Jägerbrück Military Training Area, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The exercise organisers said: ‘The duration of the exercise, the distance to be covered and the combination of road marches and rail transports are typical for realistic deployment scenarios.

‘In addition, during the exercise, the communication between the troop units, the alerting and the C2 capability of Logistics Regiment 1 during a deployment to a country of deployment will be tested and sharpened,’ the organisers confirmed.