[MDF] Doctrine & Force [INT] | NATO & EU

Steadfast Dart 2026: NATO’s First Major Test of the Allied Reaction Force

A deep-dive into Exercise Steadfast Dart 2026 — the Allied Reaction Force's first operational-scale deployment under JFC Brunssum, and the clearest test yet of NATO's post-NRF multi-domain readiness architecture.

by Großwald

Updated February 25, 2026

Key Insights of NATO's Steadfast Dart 2026: Steadfast Dart 2026 deployed approximately 10,000 troops from 13 Allied nations across Germany in the ARF's first large-scale exercise under JFC Brunssum. The exercise validated NATO's ability to project multi-domain force at division strength — from Turkish drone carrier operations in the Baltic to combined arms live fire in Lower Saxony.

Three developments warrant close attention: (1) the Bayraktar TB-3's first shipborne combat cycle in a NATO exercise, (2) the ARF maritime component's 15-ship Baltic task group under Spanish command, and (3) Germany's dual role as both host nation hub and Quadriga exercise integrator.

Exercise Steadfast Dart 2026, NATO's largest exercise of the year, concluded on 20 February 2026 at the Bergen Training Area in northern Germany with a live multi-domain capability demonstration. Approximately 10,000 service personnel from 13 Allied nations — operating across land, sea, air, cyber, space, and special operations domains — tested the Allied Reaction Force's deployable capabilities under the command of Joint Force Command Brunssum.

STDT26 was the first large-scale peacetime deployment of the ARF within JFC Brunssum's Vigilance Area Centre, following the force's inaugural deployment during Steadfast Dart 2025. Where last year demonstrated that the ARF could deploy, this year's exercise tested whether it could fight — integrating amphibious landings, shipborne drone strikes, combined arms manoeuvre, and maritime interdiction into a single operational scenario against a simulated near-peer adversary.

For the broader 2026 exercise calendar and context, see Grosswald's continually updated NATO Exercises 2026 guide.

The ARF After the NRF: Force Design in Practice

The Allied Reaction Force replaced the NATO Response Force in July 2024 as part of the NATO Force Model. The NFM tripled the number of high-readiness forces available to the Alliance — approximately 100,000 personnel deployable within 10 days, 200,000 within 30, and 500,000 within six months. The ARF sits at the apex: a division-strength, multi-domain force of roughly 40,000 personnel held at the highest readiness levels, deployable immediately on SACEUR's orders.

Steadfast Dart 2026 tested this architecture under realistic conditions. NATO Rapid Deployable Corps Italy (NRDC-ITA), headquartered at Solbiate Olona near Milan, served as the ARF headquarters — a transitional role it holds for three years from July 2024. Component commands rotated on an annual cycle: Italy led land forces, Spain commanded the maritime component, and Turkiye held the air component lead through June 2026.

The exercise was structured in three phases:

Phase	Timeline	Focus
Strategic Deployment and RSOM	2 Jan – 12 Feb 2026	Movement of ARF units to Germany by air, sea, rail, and road. First Italian sealift vessel arrived Emden on 15 January carrying 1,500+ military vehicles.
Force Integration Training	9 – 20 Feb 2026	Live fire, amphibious manoeuvres, maritime interdiction, SOF operations, innovation demonstrations. Culminating event: Distinguished Visitors Day at Bergen, 20 February.
Redeployment	Late Feb – 18 Mar 2026	Coordinated rearward movements. Spanish Parachute Brigade conducted national training in Germany before returning in early March.

The Bundeswehr characterised the exercise not as a training event but as "planned and conducted as an operation" — with the stated aim of "increasing operational readiness, demonstrating capabilities to deter potential aggressors, and reassuring NATO Allies that Germany is performing its role as a NATO hub reliably and sustainably."

Force Composition: 13 Nations, Division Strength

STDT26 brought together forces from eight core ARF-contributing nations — Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, and Turkiye — with additional support from Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom. Turkiye deployed approximately 2,000 personnel, making it one of the largest single-nation contributors alongside Italy and Spain.

Component	Lead Nation	Key Assets
ARF HQ	Italy (NRDC-ITA)	Operational-level command, all domains
Land Component	Italy (MN Div South)	8th Alpine Regiment, "Julia" Alpine Brigade; Czech 43rd Parachute Regiment; Turkish 66th Mechanised Brigade; Spanish SOF
Maritime Component	Spain (SPMARFOR)	15 ships, ~2,600 personnel. ESPS Castilla, TCG Anadolu, SNMG1, SNMCMG1, frigates from Spain, Turkiye, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland
Air Component	Turkiye	Bayraktar TB-3 UCAV, German Eurofighter 2000, Italian AH-129D attack helicopters, Turkish attack helicopters
Special Operations	Spain	Spanish "Almogavares" SOF (GOE IV), Turkish SAT/SAS teams, Czech airborne troops

Approximately 1,500 military vehicles were deployed in the first Italian sealift alone, with two further sealift movements delivering an additional 2,350 items through February. The logistical throughput — across Emden (sea), Kiel (naval), and Wunstorf (air) entry points — constituted the largest multi-modal RSOM operation in the ARF's short history.

Maritime Operations: A 15-Ship Task Group in the Baltic

The maritime dimension of STDT26 was the most operationally complex. The ARF Maritime Component Command, led by Spain's SPMARFOR embarked aboard the amphibious assault ship ESPS Castilla, departed Rota Naval Base on 30 January 2026. The Turkish Anadolu Task Group — featuring the 27,000-ton amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu, frigates Orucreis and Istanbul, and replenishment ship Derya — departed on 20 January.

During the ten-day transit to the Baltic, the task group progressively intensified interoperability — beginning with basic drills and advancing to complex tactical scenarios, supplemented by cooperative activities with French, German, Dutch, Danish, and British naval forces. The Castilla also escorted the transport ship Ysabel carrying Spanish Army materiel.

By the time the force entered Kiel on 11 February, it comprised 15 ships with approximately 2,600 personnel from six nations, incorporating Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1).

The Baltic as Strategic Axis

NATO framed the maritime deployment explicitly in terms of the Baltic's strategic significance — hosting "key maritime trade routes, critical energy infrastructure, and undersea cables upon which our economies and societies depend."

This is not abstract language. Following the subsea infrastructure incidents of 2023–2025, the Baltic has shifted from a secondary theatre to a primary one for Allied maritime planners. STDT26's maritime component was, in effect, a rehearsal for how NATO would secure the Baltic under contested conditions — from mine countermeasures to amphibious power projection.

Bayraktar TB-3: A NATO First for Shipborne UCAV Operations

The most technically significant development of STDT26 occurred on 14 February 2026, when a Bayraktar TB-3 unmanned combat aerial vehicle launched from TCG Anadolu's ski-jump deck, located and engaged a designated surface target with two Roketsan MAM-L precision-guided munitions, and recovered safely aboard. This constituted the first full ship-to-target combat cycle for a carrier-based drone in NATO exercise history.

The TB-3 subsequently flew a reported 8-hour, 1,700 km joint sortie alongside German Eurofighter Typhoons over the Baltic, equipped with its ASELFIR-500 electro-optical reconnaissance and targeting system — demonstrating manned-unmanned teaming and NATO interoperability at operational scale.

Two additional aspects of the TB-3 operations are worth noting:

Cold-weather resilience: The TB-3 conducted autonomous takeoffs and landings from Anadolu at approximately minus 5 degrees Celsius, in heavy snowfall and strong winds — reportedly the only aircraft sustaining flight operations under those conditions during the exercise. (Note: sourced from Turkish media; independent corroboration pending.)
Platform specifications: At 8.35 metres with a 14-metre folding wingspan and 280 kg payload across six hardpoints, the TB-3 is purpose-built for short-deck operations. It requires neither catapults nor arresting wires — a design philosophy that transforms any flat-deck vessel into a potential drone carrier.

Turkiye's drone-carrier concept has drawn scepticism since Anadolu was reconfigured from an F-35B platform to a UCAV carrier. STDT26 appears to have moved the concept from experimental validation to operational contribution. Whether NATO doctrine adapts to integrate distributed drone-carrier operations into standing maritime posture remains an open question — but the technical proof of concept is now established.

Amphibious Demonstration at Putlos

On 18 February, the ARF Maritime Component Command executed a complex amphibious demonstration at the Putlos military training area on Germany's Baltic coast — the exercise's maritime highlight, observed by the German Minister of Defence and hosted by JFC Brunssum Commander General Ingo Gerhartz.

The operational sequence demonstrated layered multi-domain integration:

ISR and shaping: A Bayraktar TB-3 launched from TCG Anadolu provided real-time intelligence. Simulated hostile targets were engaged by German Eurofighter 2000 aircraft.
Advance force insertion: Spanish SOF conducted underwater insertion to clear shoreline hazards. Turkish SAT/SAS and Spanish naval SOF teams fast-roped ashore by helicopter to secure key positions.
Close air support: Turkish attack helicopters provided CAS while the advance force shaped the objective area.
Main landing force: Turkish Marines approached the beach in high-speed boats, followed by 27 ZAHA amphibious assault vehicles — transitioning from seaborne connectors to armoured personnel carriers as they advanced inland.
Reinforcement and extraction: Landing craft reinforced the beachhead eastward. Spanish SOF were extracted via Airborne Tactical Extraction Platform.

The ZAHA vehicle, manufactured by FNSS Defence Systems, merits attention as a demonstrator of amphibious capability: a 21-person complement, up to 70 km/h on land, twin water-jet propulsion at sea, armed with a CAKA remote turret mounting a 12.7 mm machine gun and 40 mm automatic grenade launcher. Twenty-seven units operated simultaneously during the Putlos landing — the largest ZAHA deployment in a NATO context to date.

Combined Arms at Bergen: The Land Demonstration

The exercise concluded on 20 February with a live capability demonstration at the Bergen Training Area. A multinational combat team of approximately 300 personnel from Czechia, Italy, Spain, and Turkiye operated under the unified command of the 8th Italian Mountain Infantry Regiment — the "Julia" Alpine Brigade's core operational unit.

The demonstration was structured in successive phases to present a condensed view of contemporary combined arms operations:

Isolation: Czech airborne troops from the 43rd Parachute Regiment secured key terrain, enabling SOF insertion to neutralise a simulated high-value target.
Air-land integration: Joint Terminal Attack Controllers coordinated German Eurofighters and Italian AH-129D attack helicopters for simulated close air support. The AH-129Ds engaged targets with their 20 mm M197 Gatling guns.
Combined arms assault: Combat engineers cleared obstacles, followed by a mechanised infantry attack with artillery support, integrating Turkish BMC Kirpi II and Vuran armoured vehicles alongside Italian Bv206S oversnow platforms.

"Activities such as Steadfast Dart 26 are essential to strengthening NATO's readiness and interoperability, enhancing our ability to respond at a moment's notice to an emergent threat to the Alliance," said Major General Giuseppe Scuderi, ARF Land Component Commander. "This demonstration has shown how NATO forces are trained, interoperable and prepared to fight together across all domains whenever necessary."

Innovation: ASLAN UGV and Emerging Ground Robotics

The Turkish 66th Mechanised Brigade exhibited the ASLAN unmanned ground vehicle during land activities — a medium-class armed UGV developed by ASELSAN that the brigade has operated for three years. Featuring modular architecture with electro-optical sensors, thermal cameras, and a SARP remote-controlled weapon station mounting a 7.62 mm machine gun, the ASLAN represents a class of platform increasingly present in NATO exercises but not yet integrated into standing force structures.

UGVs at STDT26 served primarily in reconnaissance and surveillance roles, though the platform's capability extends to fire support in urban and high-threat environments. The significance is less about the ASLAN itself and more about what its routine deployment signals: unmanned ground systems are transitioning from technology demonstrators to embedded unit-level assets. NATO doctrine has yet to fully absorb this shift — a gap that exercises like STDT26 are beginning to expose.

Germany as Hub: Host Nation Support and Quadriga Integration

STDT26 tested Germany's role as NATO's central European logistics hub under operational conditions. The Bundeswehr provided accommodation, meals, vehicle and aircraft refuelling, storage, maintenance capacity, guarding, and counter-drone measures for all ARF troops across multiple German states — Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt.

The exercise flowed directly into the Bundeswehr's own Quadriga 2026 exercise cluster — an annual full-strength exercise running since 2023. Quadriga's 2026 iteration comprised:

Grand Quadriga (February): Army deployment alongside ARF forces, featuring the 413 Light Infantry Battalion and 7 Reconnaissance Battalion with Boxer MRAV vehicles.
Northern Quadriga (January–February): Naval operations in the North Sea, replacing the former NORTHERN COASTS exercise.
Silver Dagger: Special operations forces training in urban and maritime environments.
Medic Quadriga (March): Medical evacuation support exercise.

The integration with Quadriga 2026 is significant. Germany is not merely hosting NATO forces — it has aligned the ARF deployment timeline directly with its own national force-generation cycle. This marks a clear evolution from the pre-Zeitenwende era, when major Bundeswehr exercises and NATO drills typically ran on largely separate tracks. Whether this level of synchronisation proves sustainable beyond the current political cycle and amid ongoing defence-budget pressures will be a useful indicator of Germany’s long-term reliability as NATO's continental hub.

Strategic Assessment: What STDT26 Signals

Three strategic takeaways emerge from Steadfast Dart 2026.

First, the ARF is operationally credible — but narrowly tested. STDT26 demonstrated that division-strength multi-domain force can deploy, integrate, and execute within a single theatre. But Germany is the most permissive operating environment NATO has. The true test will come when the ARF deploys to contested or austere environments — the Arctic, the eastern flank, or maritime chokepoints — where logistics, host nation support, and C2 connectivity cannot be assumed.
Second, Turkiye's contributions are reshaping capability assumptions. With approximately 2,000 troops, the Anadolu task group, TB-3 drone operations, ZAHA amphibious vehicles, and the ASLAN UGV, Turkiye was arguably the exercise's most technologically demonstrative participant. The drone-carrier concept, the 8-hour TB-3/Eurofighter joint sortie, and the cold-weather autonomous operations represent a category of capability that NATO did not possess two years ago. How the Alliance integrates Turkish unmanned systems into its evolving doctrine and command structures will be one of the defining questions of the next NATO Force Model review cycle.
Third, multi-domain integration is real but fragile. STDT26 integrated land, sea, air, SOF, cyber, and space effects into a single exercise framework. But integration under exercise conditions — with pre-scripted scenarios, permissive electromagnetic environments, and cooperative C2 — is categorically different from integration under fire. The exercise validated procedures and demonstrated interoperability. It did not, and could not, validate resilience. NATO's next challenge is testing what happens when the network degrades, when C2 nodes are contested, and when adversary actions force real-time adaptation rather than rehearsed responses.

SACEUR General Alexus G. Grynkewich described STDT26 as demonstrating "NATO's responsiveness, as well as its strength." JFC Brunssum Commander General Gerhartz stated that "NATO's Allied Reaction Force toolbox contains every capability needed to react to any threat." These are accurate statements — within the scope of what STDT26 tested. The open question is whether the toolbox remains intact when the operating environment ceases to cooperate.

Sources and Further Reading

Großwald is an independent European defence intelligence publication. We track procurement, alliance posture, and industrial readiness across the continent — verified, attributed, and structured for the professionals who need to know.

by Großwald

Updated February 25, 2026