NATO PLANS HUGE MILITARY EXERCISE IN JUNE

NATO’s largest ever aircraft deployment exercise is set to take place in June this year involving more than 200 aircraft.

The German Ministry of Defence has released information on Exercise Air Defender 2023 stating that 210 aircraft will be involved, spanning 23 different types. One hundred of these will come from the US Air National Guard, which will deploy aircraft to Europe from 35 states.

The exercise is expected to bring together 18 nations who will collectively deploy up to 10,000 personnel. The countries participating in Air Defender 2023 are Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, UK and the US.

The focus of Air Defender is Germany, which the defense ministry press release states is exercising its role as a “collective defence hub” within Europe. Consequently, the majority of main air bases involved are in Germany: Schleswig-Jagel and Hohn in Schleswig-Holstein, Laage in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Wunstorf in Lower Saxony, Lechfeld in Bavaria and Spangdahlem in Rhineland-Palatinate. In the Netherlands, Volkel air base will be utilized as will Čáslav in the Czech Republic.

The main training airspace to be used for Air Defender 2023 will be over Schleswig/Hohn, Wunstorf and Lechfeld.

The German press release disclosed that the event is intended to serve as a “challenging training scenario” featuring air warfare operations for friendly and allied air forces.

“The aim will be to optimise and expand cooperation between nations and their armed forces. In addition, the capabilities and cohesion of NATO are to be accentuated,” the statement added.

Germany said the event is intended to “unite and bring together” the air forces of NATO and its allies in one exercise and Air Defender 2023 is “purely defensive” in nature.

The statement adds: “The ability to react and the combined strength in the air should be trained and demonstrated. At the same time, the transatlantic alliance is maintained with Air Defender 2023.”

Planning for the exercise started before the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The Chief of the German Air Force Lt Gen Ingo Gerhartz hosted Lt Gen Michael Loh, Director of the Air National Guard in October 2021 to discuss Air Defender 2023.

NASA ANNOUNCES FIRST ARTEMIS MOON MISSION CREW

NYT: 

NASA photo 

NASA on Monday announced a crew of four astronauts who will head to the moon within the next two years. The crew will travel around the moon and back on a 10-day mission.

The four astronauts are: Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman of NASA, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency.

Reid Wiseman, commander

Until recently, G. Reid Wiseman, 47, served as NASA’s as chief astronaut, meaning that he would have been responsible for selecting the four astronauts that flew on Artemis II. But he stepped down from that post last November, and became eligible for assignment to the moon-bound crews of the Artemis missions.

Selected as part of the 2009 astronaut class, Mr. Wiseman, a captain in the United States Navy, spent 165 days in orbit at the International Space Station in 2014. Before joining NASA, he served two deployments in the Middle East.
Victor Glover, pilot

Victor J. Glover, Jr., 46, was the pilot of the first operational mission of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station from November 2020 to May 2021. He spent 168 days on the space station. He was the first Black man assigned as a crew member on the station — and participated in four spacewalks. Mr. Glover, a captain in the United States Navy, was selected to be an astronaut in 2013.

Originally from Pomona, Calif., Mr. Glover graduated with a bachelor’s degree in general engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1999. From 2007 through 2010, he earned three master’s degrees: in flight test engineering, systems engineering and military operational art and science.

Mr. Glover is often referred to by his counterparts as Ike, a nod to a call sign a former commanding officer gave him that stands for “I know everything.”
Christina Koch, mission specialist

Christina H. Koch, 44, holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman — 328 days — and she, with another active astronaut, Jessica Meir, performed the first three all-women spacewalks in 2019 and 2020. She also conducted three other spacewalks. Her six spacewalks totaled 42 hours and 15 minutes.

Before being selected as an astronaut in 2013, Ms. Koch worked as an electrical engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. She later became a researcher in the United States Antarctic Program, which included a yearlong stay at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Other places she has worked include the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, spending time in Alaska and American Samoa.
Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist

Jeremy Hansen is one of four active Canadian astronauts. He was selected by the Canadian Space Agency to be an astronaut in 2009. He is 47 years old and was born in Ontario.

Col. Hansen, who served as a fighter pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces, has yet to fly to space. In his time representing the Canadian Space Agency at NASA, he has served as a capsule communicator between mission control in Houston and the astronauts aboard the International Space Station. He was also the first Canadian tasked with leading an astronaut class.