NATO Publishes Exercise Schedule: Cover for a Surprise Attack on Russia?

An 8-page NATO planning document, dated May 15 and posted on the NATO website, provides the schedule of exercises from mid-April through to November of this year, and it is very dense. In fact, it lists 70 discrete events, ranging from conferences and table-top exercises through major force exercises throughout NATO’s territory, but especially on Russia’s periphery.

Lyndon LaRouche, upon being briefed on the document, said that the point is, somewhere along the line something is going to happen. They’re advertising their schedule in advance to try to produce an element of surprise. The intended victim doesn’t know when the real strike is going to occur, but the intention of the US and the British is to attack Russia, and the only question is when. But the Russians will react accordingly, LaRouche noted.

Many of the events listed in the document are related to the development of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), the so-called “spearhead” force that NATO members agreed on at last September’s Wales summit, and the expansion of the NATO Response Force (NRF). Highlights include the following:

* Arctic Challenge, ongoing now and ends on June 5: hosted by Norway with participation from 8 NATO members plus Sweden and Finland, “to exercise and train units in the orchestration and conduct of complex air operations, in close relations to NATO and Protection for Peace Partners.”

* Steadfast Cobalt, also ongoing and running through June 15 in Poland, an interoperability exercise for the NATO response force.

* Joint Project Optic Windmill, begun on May 31 and running through June 12, a combined air and missile defense exercise hosted by the Netherlands.

* A whole series of exercises under the rubric “Allied Shield.” These include: Baltops 2015, running in the Baltic Sea from June 5 to June 20, involving 10 NATO members and Sweden and Finland. This exercise will feature (according to news reports) two B-52’s flying from the US to conduct the simulated deployment of naval mines; Sabre Strike 15, running from June 8 to 19 in Poland and the Baltic states, with the participation of numerous other countries. This exercise is “intended to promote regional stability and security, strengthen partner capacity and foster trust while improving interoperability between NATO partners. Noble Jump, running from June 10 to 21, also hosted by Poland but with events in numerous other locations, including at NATO headquarters in Brussels. This exercise will be the “First training tactical deployment of Allied high-readiness units under the new VJTF framework; and, Trident Joust 15 running from June 17 to 28, in Italy, Bulgaria and Romania.

* Sea Breeze, running from June 22 to July 3 on the Black Sea, which will focus on maritime security operations capabilities.

* Trident Juncture, another VJTF exercise hosted by Italy, Portugal and Spain, which will run from Oct. 1 through Nov. 6.