In a turbulent international environment, NATO is ready to carry out its biggest military maneuvers of the year on its eastern flank. It will be one more deterrence exercise against Russia coinciding with the third anniversary of the start of the military invasion of Ukraine.
Steadfast Dart 25 will involve, from February 10 to 21, more than 10,000 soldiers from across the Atlantic Alliance. Spain will participate with some 3,000 members of the Armed Forces and will lead its Special Operations component for the first time.
The maneuvers will test the activation and deployment capacity of the NATO Allied Reaction Force (ARF). For this, three scenarios have been chosen, Romania, Greece and Bulgaria, in which the forces of all countries will show their capabilities with air, land and naval means. Specifically, the exercise will focus on the planning and execution of a multi-domain activity prior to a crisis.
Greece will be used as a maritime landing port and where the Maritime Component Command (MCC) will deploy; Bulgaria will be the country where the Special Operations Component Command (SOCC) —led by Spain— and part of the Air Component Command will deploy; and, finally, Romania, which will mainly be the deployment area of the Land Component Command (LCC).
The almost 3,000 soldiers deployed by Spain will participate distributed among the four component controls of the Alliance. It is especially relevant that the Armed Forces, specifically the Joint Special Operations Command (MCOE), will be at the forefront for the first time since the establishment of the NATO Special Operations Component for two years (until June 2026)after passing an intense evaluation of its operational capabilities.
The details of Spain’s participation in the Steadfast Dart 25 are as follows:
– Land Component Command (LCC): a reinforced tactical group entity unit (732 soldiers), which will be part of the ARF LCC Brigade, led by the United Kingdom.
– Maritime Component Command (MCC): an amphibious group with the LHD ‘Juan Carlos I’ as flagship with an embarked ROLE 2B medical support and an approximate number of 1,400 Spanish soldiers.
– Air Component Command: The Air and Space Army will contribute personnel in a support and advisory role to the Air Command and Control (AirC2). In addition, an A400 will be deployed, for a limited time, as well as modules from the Air Deployment Support Squadron (EADA) of the Air and Space Army and personnel for the management of aeronautical fuels. In total, about 40 Spanish soldiers
– Special Operations Component: Spain leads with the contribution of the General Headquarters, as well as different operational teams and an air transport element.
Express Deployment
For the deployment phase, the Spanish units will begin strategic move on January 16, with the deployment by sea of Army assets to the port of Alexandrópolis (Greece).
As explained by Defense Staff (Emad)NATO’s Allied Reaction Force (ARF) is a strategic, high-readiness, multi-domain capable force. This force is capable of deploying in a very short time, and its composition can be increased through scalable multi-domain force packages to strengthen the deterrence in peace and crisis or to create a strategic dilemma for adversaries.
Furthermore, its flexibility allows the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR) assign additional forces to the ARF Commander as necessary, in any situation and across the spectrum of operations.
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