The EU will conduct military exercises of its response forces in Germany

The EU military exercise Live Military Exercise (LIVEX) will take place in Germany. This is the second such exercise to be held in the country.

This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the website of the European Union.

The European Union explained that these exercises are part of the broader MILEX24 exercises, which also include command and control exercises.

“This is an important step in realizing the full operational capability of the European Union's Rapid Deployment Capability (EU RDC), one of the key achievements of the EU's Strategic Compass. The purpose of the EU RDC is to ensure the deployment of a modular force of up to 5,000 troops to respond to crisis situations beyond the EU's borders,” the EU explained.

The joint multinational exercise will be conducted under the command of the Eurocorps and the German Army Command.

LIVEX will be based on the German-led European Challenge 2024 exercise. The exercise will rehearse the deployment of the 25th battlegroup of the EU's Battlegroup in a pre-determined scenario.

The EU LIVEX exercise will involve 15 EU member states and more than 1,700 military personnel. The purpose of the exercise is to test interoperability in planning and conducting a joint operation at all levels:

• Strategic-level operation headquarters under the direction of the Military Planning and Operations Division from Brussels.

• The Force Headquarters at the operational level, led by the Eurocorps, will conduct exercises from Bergen and Strasbourg, reinforced by an Irish force protection company.

• At the tactical level, the EU Battlegroup (EUBG) troops are deployed at the Bergen training ground. Germany is contributing a battlegroup under the command of the mountain infantry battalion 231, as well as medical units of the Medical Task Force (MED TF) to the EUBG. Austria provides combat support to the battalion.

It should be noted that since 2002, the European Union has been conducting military crisis management exercises to test the effectiveness of military command structures and procedures.

In this context, the EU exercises, the first of which will take place in 2023 in Spain, are a key step towards realizing the full operational capability of the European Union's Rapid Deployment Capability (EU RDC), which is one of the key activities under the EU's Strategic Compass.

Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 15/11/2024