QUADRIGA 2024: Conclusion in Lithuania

Quadriga 2024 concludes this week at the Pabrade training area in Lithuania. With a demonstration of their capabilities to conclude the 5-month exercise series, the Bundeswehr emphasizes its readiness to defend every square inch of NATO territory alongside its allies.

Since January, the Bundeswehr has been practicing with integrated troops from allied forces, moving over 12,000 soldiers from their home bases to potential deployment areas along the NATO eastern flank, from the Arctic Circle to the Romanian Carpathians. The Inspector General, Carsten Breuer, visited the exercise site in Lithuania yesterday and assessed Quadriga 2024, the largest NATO exercise since 1988: "We have shown in this exercise that we Allies can defend ourselves and will defend ourselves. We have proven our combat readiness." Quadriga is the collective response to the dramatically increasing threat from Russia. In Pabrade, the Bundeswehr stands by its commitment to defend every square inch of NATO territory and to realize the turning point, according to the Inspector General.

Quadriga 2024 is part of the Bundeswehr's refocusing on national and alliance defense. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has strongly reinforced this reorientation of exercise activities. Germany and the Bundeswehr were also called upon in reality as the "German Hub" for NATO, as Germany's central location serves as a transit country for the movement of many Allies.

As part of securing marches and transports during Quadriga 2024, the Bundeswehr, in collaboration with homeland security forces, tested the protection of defense-critical infrastructure in the National Guardian exercise. One task was to secure the port of Rostock when vehicles of the 10th Armored Division were being loaded for sea transport to Lithuania to participate in the final exercise of Quadriga.

With Quadriga, the final highlight of Steadfast Defender 24 also comes to an end. General Carsten Breuer summed up: "And if one asks, what is all this for, then I have just described it in the threat from Russia. And if one wonders what it all comes down to, then we have seen it here. We can discuss strategies, we can implement strategies into plans, but in the end, it is men and women who defend freedom on battlefields like this."

More on this topic GERMAN ARMY IN LITHUANIA: Big steps towards the German combat brigade

GERMAN ARMY online