General Leonardo Tricarico to Fanpage.it: “Nuclear exercises are routine activities, but it is not normal that they were announced. This is not a sign of relaxation. All parties seem interested in an escalation of tensions. This is wrong and dangerous: we need different signals”.
Interview with General Leonardo Tricarico
Former Air Force Chief of Staff
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Next week NATO will conduct oneexercise of his nuclear powers.
This was announced by the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, who stated that “the exercise was completed planned long before the war in Ukraine broke out“And that a cancellation now would send the wrong message to Moscow.
Stoltenberg declared today in Brussels on the eve of the European Union Defense Ministers Summit that “the fundamental purpose of NATO’s nuclear deterrent has always been to preserve peace, prevent coercion and deter aggression”.
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“Next week NATO will conduct theirs chilling exercise long planned, Steadfast noon. It is an activity that takes place every year to maintain our deterrent capacity in a safe and effective manner.” In 2019 and 2021, the exercises were also held in October.
“President Vladimir Putin’s veiled nuclear threats are dangerous and irresponsible. Russia knows that A nuclear war can never be won and never fought,” added Stoltenberg, explaining that the exercise will last a week, involve 14 Alliance member nations and aircraft with nuclear bomb transport capabilities.
This time the activity coincides with the war in Ukraine and comes a few days after the President of the United States was alerted to the threat of “Armageddon”. But how are these exercises performed? And don’t they risk increasing tensions between Russia and NATO? Fanpage.it contacted the general Leonardo Tricaricoformer Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force.
General Leonardo Tricarico
Stoltenberg announced that a NATO nuclear exercise would be held next week.
It’s pretty obvious for this to happen and it’s perfectly normal. It is necessary that all member states of the Alliance conduct systematic exercises to ensure that, if necessary, everyone knows what to do, as required by the doctrines for the use of all systems, both conventional and unconventional. That there is an exercise in which the use of a nuclear weapon is foreseen is a perfectly normal fact. What’s not normal is that you say it.
How do you mean? Should these tutorials be secret?
So far, NATO’s communications strategy has required that certain information – like this – be kept strictly confidential to avoid undue alarmism. I assume that this further public appearance by Stoltenberg was the result of an agreement with all allied countries. I hope that the Italian Ambassador to NATO – Francesco Maria Talò – was also duly consulted and given the “green light”. In the past, the NATO Secretary General has been the protagonist of unplanned departures and sometimes in those 7 months he has exceeded his authority.
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How are such exercises performed?
I can’t be very detailed for obvious reasons. But I can tell you that these exercises also involve grades, just like in school, and if a state or department does not score well in all areas of the assessment, it creates a bad impression worldwide. We practice everything departments need to know, including using a nuclear weapon.
What maneuvers are performed?
All I can tell you is that we are practicing so everyone knows what to do at that despicable moment when a nuclear weapon has to be used. The standards of NATO exercises are very strict: everything is written and classified with great precision.
Is there a distribution of tasks according to countries?
We are talking about military assets that are not in everyone’s hands. But everyone must know how to defend themselves: even the individual soldier must know the effects of a nuclear fallout, how to fight it, how to protect yourself and how to clean up radioactive areas. However, of course, the methods of using a nuclear weapon affect only the states that possess them.
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Given the situation, do you think holding these exercises is an appropriate decision?
Departments must always be ready and trained. That’s what the exercises are for. I don’t know if this could have been postponed, but it’s certainly routine, business as usual for NATO. What’s worrying, if anything, is that it’s not a sign of relaxation. On the contrary, it seems that all parties are interested in rising tensions. This is absolutely wrong and dangerous: it would require some other signals.
How will Russia react? Will he do other exercises in turn?
As long as you stick to the exercises I don’t see any major problems, keep going. But at this rate, I’m afraid we’ll never get anywhere good.