Preparations for the Anaconda 23 exercise which will be organized by the Polish Army have begun. Turkey will also take part in the exercise.
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak shared on his official Twitter account that preparations for Anaconda 23, which will be organized by the Polish Army, have begun. The exercise will be held with other NATO member countries. 13 thousand soldiers will participate in the exercise. According to the news by Polska Zbrojna, in addition to 10,000 Polish soldiers, 3,000 representatives of allied countries including Turkey will participate. (USA, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, France, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Turkey)
We wschodniej i północnej części Polski rozpoczęło się przygotowanie i przemieszczanie wojsk do aktywnej części #Anakonda23 – IX edycji największego cyklicznego ćwiczenia z udziałem blisko trzynastu tysięcy żołnierzy WP oraz wojsk sojuszniczych i partnerskich. #WeAreNATO pic.twitter.com/PPSK9vY8dl
— Mariusz Błaszczak (@mblaszczak) April 17, 2023
Poland has been holding the Anaconda exercise since 2006. The purpose of the exercise is to test the military’s capabilities, equipment and command systems, allied interoperability, and procedures when working with civilian agencies concerned with security. The exercise was held every two years initially but it has been held every three years since 2018.
As part of the exercise, the troops will focus on defense and deterrence measures in the Baltic Sea region. The maneuvers to be carried out in this context are divided into several stages. A significant part of the exercise will take place in mid-April. Troops will then be sent to training grounds in Drawsko Pomorskie, Orzysz, Ustka and Nowa Dęba.
In the statement, it is emphasized that the training scenario is prepared to resemble the real situation as much as possible. The exercise fits with the dynamics of current threats to NATO’s eastern flank. In addition, for the first time, experimental exercises will be held in which the army will use modern technologies in the field. However, no details are given on this issue.
Anaconda 23 will also be combined with other allied exercises. The exercises in question are Defender Europe ’23 and Aurora 23 in Sweden, which focus on testing how quickly the US Army can deploy its forces to Europe. All of these exercises will help improve the cooperation processes of the armed forces in a joint defense operation.
