Cold Response is scheduled to conclude on April 1. Over 30,000 troops and 200 Aircraft from 27 countries participated in the exercise. A key goal was to train the NATO Response Force in reinforcing Norway and supporting Norwegian national forces, integrating the two forces to work congruently towards the same goal of defending Allied territory.
Norway has hosted NATO Allies and Partners during Cold Response 22, which is the largest exercise in Europe consisting of Air, Land, and Sea forces working together in a multi-domain, artic environment.
The exercises saw Allied air power come together with land and maritime forces to provide a true multi-domain response to operations in a complex and congested environment. Alliance aircraft flew missions daily with contributions from Allied and Partner Air Forces including the US, UK, Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Norway comprising of fighters, bombers, and critical enabling aircraft such as air-to-air refuelling tankers, transport, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.
This year's exercise is long planned and was announced over eight months ago. It is not linked to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, which NATO is responding to with preventive, proportionate and non-escalatory measures.