German Army and its NATO partners launch large-scale exercise in 2024

Quadriga 2024 will be the largest exercise of German land forces since Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The focus will be on the German Army. Visible to the public, more than 12,000 troops will practice the alerting and deployment of national and multinational land forces. Germany is thus making a significant contribution to deterrence along the eastern flank of the Alliance.

In the future, NATO and Bundeswehr exercises must be geared more to the requirements of national and collective defence. This is the practical consequence of the “Zeitenwende”. The Federal Republic of Germany will be at the centre of the large-scale exercise Quadriga 2024. Germany is assuming command responsibility, providing armed forces and serving as a major hub for the necessary national and international troop deployments. It is thereby demonstrating its capability and reliability as a NATO partner. The increased exercise activities associated with this are also necessary to further improve operational readiness and defence capabilities, and to gain insights.

Due to the scope of the exercise, it will be visible in Europe and, in particular, to the public and all citizens in Germany. The Bundeswehr will provide comprehensive information on all media channels concerning the progress of the exercise and the concrete implications for road, air and maritime traffic.

What does the concept of Quadriga 2024 look like?

Within the scope of Quadriga 2024, the Bundeswehr is bringing together several large-scale exercises in Germany and abroad and combining them with the planned exercises of its allies. Similar to the classical quadriga, a chariot drawn by four horses, the large-scale exercise of the same name essentially consists of four component exercises: Grand Center (mid-February to late February 2024), Grand North (mid-February to mid-March 2024), Grand South (late April to late May 2024) and Grand Quadriga (May 2024). The name also alludes to the Quadriga on top of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, which symbolizes freedom, unity and strength.

Germany’s contribution to an even larger NATO exercise

The military exercise Quadriga 2024 covers a period of five months. As the German contribution to the large-scale NATO exercise Steadfast Defender 2024, Quadriga is to show that the Bundeswehr is both determined and capable of making a decisive contribution to the defence of NATO’s eastern flank.

Steadfast Defender 2024 consists of a maritime exercise component with deployment of forces from North America to Europe (transatlantic reinforcement) and an exercise component in Europe, which mainly focuses on the deployment of land forces. “This exercise will involve up to 40,000 soldiers of the land forces of all NATO member states in an exercise area stretching from Norway to Romania,” a spokesperson of the Federal Ministry of Defence explains.

Rapid deployment to NATO’s eastern flank

The purpose of the Quadriga exercise is to practice the rapid deployment of own forces to NATO’s eastern flank in Norway, Lithuania, Romania or Hungary, and to gain experience in all aspects of land forces operations – ranging from alerts to multinational combat. Another aspect to be trained is the deployment and command of troops over a longer period of time. Over the entire period of time, the Bundeswehr will additionally provide valuable support and protection to the armed forces of NATO partners whose deployment routes for troops and materiel pass through Germany. Overall, Quadriga 2024 is a Bundeswehr-wide effort that includes everything from deployment organised by the Bundeswehr Homeland Defence Command to protective security provided by the Joint Support and Enabling Service and its MPs to transportation provided by the Air Force to the Army forces taking part in the actual exercise. Quadriga will be the opportunity for them to demonstrate their abilities.

How is Quadriga 2024 structured?

The exercise consists of several separate individual exercises. The parallel nature of the component exercises and the echeloning of deployed forces is an enormous challenge that the Bundeswehr and its allied armed forces will have to master. Once all participating forces have been alerted, the Rapid Response Forces Division (RRFD) will be the first to deploy. It represents the category of light forces – fast, powerful and globally deployable. In early 2024, the RRFD will train together with 23 Mountain Infantry Brigade in the Grand North exercise and subsequently practice combat under extreme weather conditions as part of Nordic Response together with Norway and, for the first time, the new NATO partners Finland and Sweden as well as numerous other partners.

At the same time, 41 Armoured Infantry Brigade will be certified for future land operations during the exercise Allied Spirit in Hohenfels. For 1 Armoured Division as the larger unit, the exercise Grand Center in Central Europe will be the basis for the exercise Dragon, which takes place in Poland in March, and for the USUnited States-led exercise Saber Strike in May. After that, the Division will put the newly introduced army force category medium forces – equipped with wheel-based combat vehicles – to the test in Lithuania, while the RRFD’s paratroopers will practice rapid deployment and operations on the southeastern flank of Europe within the context of the exercises Grand South and then Swift Response. The highlight and focus of 2024 will be Grand Quadriga, where 10 Armoured Division will practice deployment and mechanised operations as one single force in Lithuania to make a visible contribution to reassure the Allies.

by Army Press and Information Centre