Germany pushes to anchor NATO’s European hub as US steps back from major exercise

Germany is positioning itself as NATO’s military and logistical hub in Europe, advancing the policy it launched under its declared “turning point” following the war in Ukraine.

According to an analysis published by German Foreign Policy, European NATO member states are, for the second consecutive year, using the Steadfast Dart exercise to assemble their forces in Germany and deploy them eastward without US participation.

The German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr, emphasise that the scenario underpinning the exercise is no longer fictional.

The NATO operation is directed from Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum in the Netherlands, led by a German general.

The absence of the United States from the exercise reflects shifts in transatlantic relations that extend beyond current conflicts linked to Greenland and Iran.

Berlin has for some time sought to tilt the balance of power within NATO in its favour. Efforts to strengthen the alliance’s European pillar form a central component of Germany’s pursuit of greater military autonomy from the US.

In doing so, Berlin is asserting its claim to leadership in a Europe that is becoming increasingly independent in military terms.

Steadfast Dart 2026: Germany’s position strengthens

A total of 10,000 troops from 11 European countries are moving from southern Europe to Germany by the end of March to demonstrate the operational readiness of NATO’s Allied Reaction Force (ARF).

The Bundeswehr underlines that Steadfast Dart is no longer a “fictional” exercise, but one “planned and executed as an operation.”

The focus of the exercise lies in bringing together armed forces from European Mediterranean states in Germany and advancing them eastward.

Upon arrival, multinational forces conducted several combat drills integrated into the Bundeswehr’s Quadriga exercise as part of the manoeuvre.

The Bundeswehr describes one such drill in detail: NATO troops encircle a village to block enemy retreat; special forces vanish as swiftly as they appear; four fighter jets roar overhead at low altitude; they are followed by four Italian combat helicopters that maintain continuous fire to pin down the enemy; machine-gun fire forces opposing forces into cover; troops from all participating nations then secure the cleared terrain together.

The exercise is led by German Air Force General Ingo Gerhartz, who commands NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum.

NATO operational capability: ensuring Germany functions as a hub

According to the Bundeswehr, Germany’s primary task as host nation of this year’s Steadfast Dart exercise is to “ensure the smooth functioning of Germany as a hub.”

The operation focuses on “the rapid transport of troops, weapons systems and materiel across Europe.”

Under the slogan “Germany as a hub,” Berlin has for years worked to position the Federal Republic as the logistical centre for joint military operations directed towards Russia.

At the same time, it is pursuing a policy aimed at strengthening its standing within NATO and the EU vis-à-vis other alliance members.

In a key military policy document published in early 2018, the German government stated that the operational capacity of both NATO and the EU depends on Germany as a military transit country “at the centre of Europe.”

According to The New York Times, Germany’s leading role in Steadfast Dart reflects how “indispensable” Berlin has become to Europe’s defence.

The German government has committed, in the event of war, to provide logistical support to NATO for 800,000 troops and 200,000 military vehicles transiting through Germany to the eastern front.

Troop movements under Steadfast Dart are concentrated in the federal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

US absent from exercise: towards a Europeanised NATO

The United States is not participating in the Steadfast Dart exercise.

However, German Foreign Policy argues that attributing this solely to acute tensions in transatlantic relations linked to conflicts in Greenland and Iran is insufficient.

First, this year’s Steadfast Dart marks the second consecutive NATO exercise centred exclusively on European forces.

Second, planning for the exercise has been underway for more than two years and, according to US media, was conducted in cooperation with the US military.

Lukas Mengelkamp of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH) assesses that “more fully European-centred exercises” are “highly likely” in the future.

Steadfast Dart may offer a glimpse into a “Europeanised NATO.” The New York Times describes the exercise as a closely watched test of how well Europeans can manage “without their largest and most important partner.”

This does not contradict US objectives. President Donald Trump has for years urged Europeans to ease the burden on the United States and assume greater responsibility for their own security.

Rising German role: a unifying slogan for divided transatlanticists in Berlin

Even during Trump’s first term (2017–2021), Berlin frequently invoked the need to strengthen the European pillar within NATO.

Previously, amid tensions in German-American relations, Germany’s transatlantic-oriented camp had split into two factions.

The first group continued to regard cooperation with the US as the central pillar of German foreign and military policy despite mounting challenges.

The second called for accelerating Europe’s “strategic autonomy,” seeking to detach from US power politics through European solidarity.

Under the slogan of strengthening the European pillar within NATO, both camps were, at least superficially, brought back together.

There was consensus on the need for large-scale rearmament in Germany and across Europe.

Yet underlying divisions repeatedly resurfaced over specific issues, such as whether to procure ready-made US weapons systems or develop more costly but independent European alternatives.

As confirmed in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s recent speech at the Munich Security Conference, strengthening Europe within NATO is seen as a priority for Germany.

According to Merz, Europeans must build a “strong, self-reliant European pillar” within a NATO framework still dominated by the United States, aligned with their own interests.

Arguing that this Europe-focused approach serves Germany’s interests and that a “united Europe” could prevail over Russia even without US support, Merz stated: “In the long term, we can succeed only if we bring other Europeans along with us. For us Germans, there is no alternative.”