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NATO holds largest airborne forces' drills in Europe after end of Cold War

The multinational maneuvers dubbed Swift Response-2015 involve over 4,800 servicemen

NATO military exercise (archive) AP Photo/ Shakh Aivazov

NATO military exercise (archive)

© AP Photo/ Shakh Aivazov

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WASHINGTON, August 19. /TASS/. NATO has launched the largest airborne forces’ drills in Europe after the end of the Cold War, the US Army in Europe Command said on Wednesday.

The multinational maneuvers dubbed Swift Response-2015 involve over 4,800 servicemen from Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the United States and France.

The exercises kicked off on Saturday and will last through September 13.

The drills are the largest joint event for the training of airborne forces on the European continent after the Cold War period. The exercises are aimed at increasing the interoperability of NATO’s full-alert units, the US Army in Europe Command said.

The drills will culminate in the landing of paratroopers on the training ranges of Hohenfels in Germany and Novo Selo in Bulgaria. It is expected that over 1,000 paratroopers will be landed together with combat hardware on each range.

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