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RAMSTEIN, Germany – From May 13 to 21, Croatia, Greece, Italy and Slovenia will host multinational participants from six NATO nations in the US-led Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) Exercise Astral Knight.

The multi-domain exercise includes participants from the Allied nations of Albania, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Slovenia and the USA. The aim is to provide joint training of a complex command and control system with land, air and naval components. This will focus on the defence of key terrain by air assets integrated with short and long-range surface-based air defence systems.

The exercise will be conducted over and around the Adriatic Sea. It will see a mix of 4th and 5th generation fighters, support aircraft, US Navy guided missile destroyers and surface-based air defence systems integrating to provide a common operating picture.

Areal view of the 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Commands PATRIOT launchers at a training site near Crni Kal, Slovenia. Photo Courtesy of Slovenian Armed Forces

Astral Knight develops and exercises established IAMD infrastructure and architecture for the defence of Europe against air and missile threats. This gives Allied participants a live-fly opportunity to practice interoperability while improving readiness and responsiveness in a complex security environment.

This year's exercise will be linked to the multinational Joint Terminal Attack Controller exercise Adriatic Strike 2021. Participants from both exercises will conduct joint search and rescue training to further Air-Land integration skills.