Eight different countries and several international headquarters will be taking part in the exercise. Organisation, coordination and most of the activities will take place at Vredepeel barracks, the Netherlands. In a synthetic scenario, the exercise will show that NATO Member States at all levels – from tactical to strategic – are able and willing to effectively collaborate to defend themselves from all possible threats from the air.
A glimpse of the JPOW/STAR 21 scenario where the procedures for NATO's Integrated Air and Missile Defence System are exercises. Photo courtesy Royal Dutch Army.
At Allied Air Command, Ramstein, Germany, experts from AIRCOM Headquarters, Combined Air Operations Centre Uedem, NATO Ballistic Missile Defence Operations Centre and the Competence Centre Surface-Based Air and Missile Defence contribute to the coordination, synchronisation and deconfliction of Allied efforts during JPOW/STAR21.
We are showing that international cooperation can also be effective in temporary and changing formations, if professional and motivated parties take the initiative
At Vredepeel, the Netherlands offers Allied nations the opportunity to share knowledge, connect systems, and exercise international procedures for integrated missile and air defence with exercise JPOW. “With JPOW we are showing that international cooperation can also be effective in temporary and changing formations, if professional and motivated parties take the initiative,” according to the Netherlands Chief of Defence, Admiral Rob Bauer.
A new element this year is the combination with the biennial NATO exercise ‘STAR21’ for the Alliance's strategic level, which is motivated by the form and level of quality offered in JPOW. The exercise allows the tactical level and the highest strategic level to train together. With concept development and experimentation elements JPOW offers a platform for the Alliance to test and evaluate partnerships, modes of action and new systems in a simulated environment. With a focus on procedural work, the exercise is conducted as a combination of deployed units in the field and simulation phases.
For more information about the exercise please check the video here.