A Greek M1117 Guardian crew working with the 572nd Brigade Engineer Battalion, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), Vermont National Guard, monitors the surrounding area during an urban assault exercise in Topiros, Greece, May 30, 2025. The 572nd BEB and Greek Guardian crews worked as opposition forces against the 1-102nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain) during DEFENDER 25. (Denis Nunez/U.S. Army National Guard)
The U.S. Army in Europe will lead a large-scale multinational exercise across multiple European countries later this month and into May, officials announced Thursday, in a demonstration of NATO’s collective defense capabilities amid renewed questions about the alliance’s future.
About 6,000 U.S. troops and 9,500 allied forces will take part in the exercise, known as Sword 26, according to U.S. Army Europe and Africa. The drills will focus on the High North and Baltic regions.
The exercise is designed to strengthen deterrence along NATO’s eastern flank and underscore “the continued commitment to collective defense and security,” USAREUR-AF said in a statement.
The announcement comes days after President Donald Trump said he is considering a potential U.S. withdrawal from NATO, citing frustration with allies over their refusal to support U.S. military operations in Iran.
Speaking with The Telegraph, a U.K. newspaper, on Tuesday, Trump said it was “beyond reconsideration” when asked if he wanted to pull the U.S. out of the alliance, which was founded in the aftermath of World War II as a bulwark against the Soviet Union.
Sword 26 is a rebranding of the Army’s annual Defender exercise series and reflects a shift in focus from deploying forces from the United States to Europe to using forces already stationed in theater to test NATO’s regional defense plans.
It will also test the Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative, developed by NATO in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The initiative aims to strengthen defenses along the bloc’s eastern border by integrating drones, real-time data and faster decision-making to counter larger adversary forces.
Sword 26 will include testing of advanced technologies such as AI-enabled command and control systems, multidomain operations and counter-drone systems, USAREUR-AF said.
“Sword 26 tests our lethality and ability to harness data and AI-enabled warfare at scale to operate with NATO Allies,” said Gen. Christopher Donahue, commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Africa.
The exercise will take place across Estonia, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and NATO’s newest members, Finland and Sweden.
