UK and US to join Defender Europe 2020 exercises

The UK and the US are among the nations set to participate in a huge military exercise next year, it has been revealed.

Defender Europe 2020 will involve 20,000 American soldiers in their biggest deployment across the Atlantic for more than 25 years, as well as thousands of other troops from countries including Germany, Poland and Georgia.

Set to run from April to May 2020, the exercise will test the US's ability to rapidly move its soldiers and equipment to a potential theatre of combat in Europe and to join forces with its allies there.

A statement said Defender Europe 2020 will also support the ambitions of NATO to "build readiness within the alliance and deter potential adversaries".

The event will be the third-largest military exercise on the European continent since the Cold War.

It comes a year after the Trident Juncture exercise took place in Norway, with 50,000 US and NATO troops participating alongside 65 ships and 150 aircraft to test the alliance's defence capabilities.