US launches biggest allied airborne drills

BRUSSELS, Aug 19, (AFP): The United States said Tuesday it has launched the biggest allied airborne drills in Europe since the Cold War ended, as fighting involving pro-Russian separatists escalated in eastern Ukraine.

Nearly 5,000 soldiers from 11 NATO allies are taking part in four weeks of “simultaneous multinational airborne operations” across Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Romania that began in Saturday, the US army said in a statement.

“Swift Response 15 is the largest Allied airborne training event on the continent since the end of the Cold War,” according to the statement from the US army in Grafenwohr in southern Germany.