NATO to hold biggest drills since Cold War with 90,000 troops

FILE PHOTO: Polish military vehicles are transported during TUMAK-22 NATO exercises in an area known as the Suwalki Gap, of crucial significance to the security of the alliance's eastern flank, at a polygon in Klusy, Poland November 25, 2022. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -NATO is launching its largest exercise since the Cold War, rehearsing how U.S. troops could reinforce European allies in countries bordering Russia and on the alliance's eastern flank if a conflict were to flare up with a "near-peer" adversary.

Some 90,000 troops are due to join the Steadfast Defender 2024 drills that will run through May, the alliance's top commander Chris Cavoli said on Thursday.