Brunssum, The Netherlands – Today Exercise Steadfast Jupiter 2021 (SFJU21) commences at Allied Joint Forces Command Brunssum (JFCBS). Approximately 5000 personnel, coming from 26 nations, working in 18 different NATO locations will participate.
We will continue to improve the readiness of our forces and to strengthen and modernise the NATO Command Structure to meet current and future needs and challenges
STJU21 is a Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE)-led serial, directed by the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC), that is designed to ensure Allied forces are trained, interoperable and ready to respond to any threat from any direction.
The Exercise scenario is defensive in nature and is not directed against any nation or group of nations; it is based entirely on fictitious scenarios and adversaries and focuses on deterrence, one of the Alliance's core tasks.
STJU21 is an important medium through which the Alliance will, amongst other things, test and validate existing/developing concepts, procedures and systems in a challenging and complex crisis scenario. It has numerous training objectives but, perhaps the most vital one to JFCBS, is that it will train and evaluate the 2022 NATO Response Force (NRF) package, for which JFCBS will be the standby NRF Command.
"We will continue to improve the readiness of our forces and to strengthen and modernise the NATO Command Structure to meet current and future needs and challenges." General Jörg Vollmer stated during the kick-off session.
A robust Exercise Programme allows NATO and partners to train together, identifying what works and what needs to improve. Exercises are defensive, proportionate and announced months, often years, in advance. NATO Allies respect their transparency obligations under the OSCE Vienna Document.
