In Pics | NATO conducts its biggest-ever drill in Germany

The NATO exercise includes 250 military aircraft from 25 NATO and partner nations along with Sweden and Japan. The 10,000 service members drills are aimed to boost interoperability and preparedness to protect NATO territories against drones and cruise missile attacks.

The "Air Defender" was initially started in 2018 as a reaction to the Russian invasion of Crimea from Ukraine, though Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz of the German Luftwaffe claimed it was "not targeted at anyone", as per reports.

The exercise began at the Wunstorf, Jagel and Lechfeld air bases, as confirmed by a Luftwaffe spokesman, according to an AFP report. This exercise led to a demonstration at Wunstorf in northern Germany on Saturday of hundreds of protestors against the NATO drill, urging diplomatic solutions to the war.

Amy Gutmann, US ambassador to Germany has said that the exercises are intended to send a message to nations including Russia and would display "beyond a shadow of a doubt the agility and the swiftness of our allied force".

The director of the US Air National Guard, General Michael Loh, said that this exercise is about "fostering the old relationships that we have but also building new ones with this younger generation of airmen".

The image shows two Airbus A400M military aircraft of the German Armed Forces Bundeswehr during NATO's Air Defender Exercise 2023 at Wunstorf military base in north Germany.

This picture shows Director of the US Air National Guard Michael Loh, US Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann and inspector of German airforce Ingo Gerhartz at a press conference in Berlin on June 7 before the NATO drill.

The German authorities have said that civilian flight schedules may be impacted due to the "Air Defender 23" drill, however, they would try to minimize flight delays or cancellations.