Berlin, 12 June 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The largest air force manoeuvres in the history of NATO are set to begin in German air space on Monday with two weeks of exercises involving some 10,000 soldiers and 250 aircraft from 25 nations.

Led by Germany's Bundeswehr, the so-called Air Defender 2023 drills last until June 23 and are aimed at training how a fictitious attack by an eastern aggressor might be repelled by NATO troops.

Although the manoeuvres are taking place during a raging war between Russia and possible NATO candidate Ukraine, officials from Germany's Air Force say the idea for the drills date back to 2018, before Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.

The manoeuvres are taking place amid a peak in summer air travel, and estimates of the level of disruption to civilian air traffic vary.

The German Air Force's Ingo Gerhartz said flight delays would be "in the range of minutes at the most," while Matthias Maas of the air traffic controllers' union GdF said the exercises "will of course have a massive impact on civil aviation."

Three airspaces in Germany are directly affected by the exercise: parts of northern Germany and the North Sea, parts of eastern Germany and the Baltic Sea, and parts of south-western Germany.

Photo: dpa