Britain will send 20,000 armed forces personnel to one of Nato\u2019s largest exercises since the Cold War, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps announced on Monday, warning of increasing threats to the Western-led alliance. The deployment, which Shapps characterised as the UK\u2019s biggest to Nato in four decades, is aimed at \u201cproviding vital reassurance\u201d over the \u201cmenace\u201d posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin following his invasion of Ukraine, Shapps said. The British personnel \u2014 from the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Army \u2014 will be deployed across Europe and beyond for the military alliance\u2019s latest \u201cExercise Steadfast Defender\u201d, alongside personnel from 31 other member countries and Sweden, which is a candidate to join the transatlantic alliance. \u201cToday\u2019s Nato is bigger than ever but the challenges are bigger too,\u201d Shapps said in a wide-ranging speech in London, in which he warned \u201cthe international rules-based order\u201d was facing rising dangers. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why the UK has committed\u2026 the totality of our air, land and maritime assets to NATO\u201d, he went on. \u201cIn 2024 I am determined to do even more and that\u2019s why I can announce today the UK will send in some 20,000 personnel to lead one of Nato\u2019s largest deployments since the end of the Cold War.\u201d The UK contingent will include fighter jets and surveillance aircraft, the navy\u2019s most advanced warships and submarines, and a full range of army capabilities, including special operations forces. London will send a so-called Carrier Strike Group \u2014 which features its flagship aircraft carrier and F-35B fighter jets and helicopters \u2014 to the exercises in the North Atlantic, Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea. Meanwhile, some 16,000 soldiers will be deployed across eastern Europe from next month to June, taking with them tanks, artillery, helicopters and parachutes. Grant Shapps used his most high-profile speech since being appointed to the post in August to argue that the post-Cold War \u201cpeace dividend\u201d has ended and Western allies must face down foes including China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. \u201cIt\u2019s been replaced by a period of hard-headed realism,\u201d he said, adding that Nato\u2019s adversaries \u201care more connected with each other\u201d than ever and Western allies \u201cstand at a crossroads\u201d. \u201cOur adversaries are busily rebuilding their barriers, old enemies are reanimated, battle lines are being redrawn, the tanks are literally on Ukraine\u2019s lawn and the foundations of the world order are being shaken to their core.\u201d Shapps also addressed the joint UK-US strikes against Houthi fighters in Yemen last week. The Houthis have repeatedly attacked shipping in the Red Sea in recent months, in protest at the war in Gaza. The UK minister said the strikes were intended \u201cas a single action\u201d. But asked if further military action was planned, he replied: \u201cI can\u2019t predict the future for you.\u201d Shapps added that \u201cwe will not put up with a major waterway\u2026 being closed on a permanent basis\u201d to international shipping.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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