NATO is set to launch its annual nuclear exercise, Steadfast Noon, next week, a routine yet high-stakes drill that this year carries added significance amid a surge of mysterious drone incidents across Europe. The alliance’s leadership, led by Secretary-General Mark Rutte, announced on October 10, 2025, that the long-planned operation will begin Monday, October 13, and run for approximately two weeks, centering on Volkel Air Base in the Netherlands and spanning training areas over the North Sea and bases in Belgium, Britain, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
Steadfast Noon, held at roughly the same time each year for over a decade, is designed to test and maintain NATO’s nuclear deterrence posture. This year’s exercise will see the participation of 71 aircraft from 14 NATO countries, including dual-capable fighter jets, bombers, refueling tankers, electronic warfare suites, and reconnaissance and intelligence platforms. According to the Associated Press and Army Recognition, these air assets will be joined by nearly 2,000 personnel, all working under strict peacetime controls and using only training ordnance—no live nuclear weapons or munitions will be employed.
The Netherlands is leading the exercise, with the United States and Britain providing significant nuclear capabilities. The U.S. is deploying F-35 jets certified to deliver the B61-12 gravity bomb, a capability that now joins legacy fleets such as F-16s and Tornados. Finland and Poland are contributing fighter jets as well, a move that underscores NATO’s expanding nuclear-sharing arrangements and interoperability with newer members’ air fleets. France, though a nuclear power, remains outside NATO’s nuclear planning group and is not directly participating in this exercise.
While Steadfast Noon is a routine event, the context this year is anything but ordinary. Recent months have seen a series of unexplained drone sightings and incursions near military facilities and airports in NATO countries, including Belgium and Denmark. Some of these incidents have been blamed on Russia, raising security concerns and prompting tighter protection measures at European military sites. As reported by Army Recognition, these developments have sharpened the focus of the exercise on ground security and the safeguarding of nuclear assets before any potential use.
Colonel Daniel Bunch, Chief of NATO Nuclear Operations at the alliance’s military headquarters in Mons, Belgium, emphasized the evolving nature of the threat. "There are a variety of different threats that we assess and that we must defend against because these are highly protected assets that require the utmost security and safety," Bunch explained, as quoted by the Associated Press. When asked about the recent uptick in drone activity, he remarked, "Drones are not a new threat to us. Drones are something we understand. The more frequent incursions are something we’re obviously keeping an eye on, but ultimately, we’re going to stay one step ahead of the adversary."
The exercise’s scenarios, while not publicly detailed, are designed to validate technical procedures, certification standards, and command-and-control chains that would govern any potential nuclear mission. NATO officials have repeatedly stressed that Steadfast Noon is not directed at any particular country and is not a response to current international events, despite the heightened tensions with Russia and the ongoing war in Ukraine. As James Stokes, head of NATO’s Nuclear Policy Directorate, told reporters, "We haven’t seen any change in Russia’s nuclear posture" in recent months. "We will, of course, continue to monitor on a regular basis all the Russian nuclear rhetoric, which happens quite often, and the use of dual-capable missiles in Ukraine."
The alliance’s messaging is deliberate: by conducting Steadfast Noon far from active battlefields, primarily over the North Sea and in Western Europe, NATO aims to balance operational realism with restraint. The goal is to reassure allies—particularly those along NATO’s northern and eastern flanks—of the alliance’s cohesion and readiness, while signaling to potential adversaries that NATO’s nuclear deterrent remains credible, safe, secure, and effective. "We need to do this because it helps us to make sure that our nuclear deterrent remains as credible, and as safe, and as secure, and as effective as possible," Secretary-General Rutte said in his video statement. "It also sends a clear signal to any potential adversary that we will and can protect and defend all allies against all threats."
At its core, Steadfast Noon is about practicing the integration of dual-capable fighter and bomber operations with the enabling systems—electronic warfare, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and tanker support—that make such missions viable. The exercise also places a strong emphasis on ground security, with a particular focus this year on defending weapons storage and key infrastructure against threats like unmanned aerial systems. As Army Recognition analyst Teoman S. Nicanci notes, the drill "tests the full set of enablers, from ground security to EW/ISR and tanker bridges, under dual-key controls consistent with NATO’s stated purpose for nuclear forces: preserving peace, preventing coercion, and deterring aggression."
NATO’s 2024 Washington Summit declaration reaffirmed this commitment, stating, "The fundamental purpose of NATO’s nuclear capability is to preserve peace, prevent coercion and deter aggression. As long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance." This year’s Steadfast Noon, with its heightened focus on asset protection and alliance interoperability, is a visible manifestation of that doctrine.
Strategically, the exercise is intended to be routine and predictable, rotating host nations and air bases to validate procedures and strengthen the alliance’s technical and operational standards. By exercising without live nuclear munitions and keeping all activity under peacetime controls, NATO aims to avoid escalation while still sending a sober, unambiguous signal of resolve to both allies and potential adversaries.
As tensions with Russia remain high and drone incursions test the security of military installations, Steadfast Noon stands as a reminder of NATO’s ongoing commitment to collective defense. The alliance’s careful balance of readiness, restraint, and transparency is on full display, offering reassurance to member states and a clear message to those who might seek to test its resolve.
With the skies above the North Sea soon to be filled with the roar of allied jets and the hum of support aircraft, NATO’s annual exercise serves as both a technical rehearsal and a political statement: the alliance is ready, vigilant, and united in its mission to protect all of its members from any threat, old or new.