Naval and special forces practised seizing a beach at the Putlos training ground near the port city of Kiel as part of the wider Steadfast Dart 2026 exercise to test the alliance's ability to rapidly move troops across NATO territory.

Under the command of German General Ingo Gerhartz, about 3,000 forces took part in the drill, which included German Eurofighter jets and 15 naval vessels as well as Spanish combat divers and Turkish units using Zaha amphibious assault vehicles.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, observing the manoeuvre, said it showed that NATO was united and "ready for action".

"Particularly in the Baltic Sea, the security situation has worsened dramatically," he said, adding that such exercises showed "we are serious about deterrence".

Moscow's ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine, raging for almost four years, has stoked fears that Russia could in future use force against European NATO members.

The German military's top general, Carsten Breuer, said Berlin and its NATO allies faced a "real threat".

"Russia continues to orient its armed forces westward," he said, adding that drills like the Putlos exercise also had a "diplomatic effect".

European governments have also sounded the alarm over what they say is Russia's rising malign activity, including sabotage of railway lines in Poland and arson and cyberattacks across the continent.

The Putlos drill forms part of the multinational exercise Steadfast Dart 2026, running from January to March, which involves about 10,000 troops from 11 European NATO member states. Some 7,300 of them are deployed in Germany alone.

No US soldiers are taking part.

Pistorius rejected suggestions that the absence of American troops reflected tensions in transatlantic relations, saying it was "completely normal" and down to a rotation system.

Steadfast Dart is the largest manoeuvre to date for NATO's Allied Reaction Force (ARF) rapid-response formation, which was established in 2024.

In a crisis, the ARF is supposed to deploy up to 40,000 troops within 10 days, pending approval by the alliance's North Atlantic Council.