Steadfast Defender will include 90,000 personnel from across the alliance and is the largest NATO exercise since the end of the Cold War.

"For Estonia, conducting Operation Kevadtorm in the framework of Steadfast Defender means that we can practice Estonia's defense plans as part of a regional defense effort, taking into account simultaneous exercises, allied presence, and movements, operations in different domains," Defense Forces media adviser Siim Praats told ERR on Monday.

"The first part of the Steadfast Defender exercise series began with the deployment of U.S. and Canadian units from late January to mid-March and focuses on the defense of allied maritime assets in both the Atlantic and the Arctic. The second part of the exercise series will focus on the cooperation of units deployed to Europe to practice the execution of tasks with forces from different countries," he said.

"For Estonia, Steadfast Defender's participation is primarily related to the exercise Spring Storm and also to the exercise Swift Response, which has been partly conducted in Estonia in recent years," said Praats.

Swift Response is a troop screening exercise that will see airborne units from the UK arrive in Estonia.

The U.S., UK, France, Canada, Latvia, Denmark, and Poland will take part in this year's Spring Storm.

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