STDT25: The Spanish Army contributes to the largest annual NATO exercise which will take place in Greece, Romania and Bulgaria in February.
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Press Release, Madrid, 24 January 2025: STEADFAST DART 25: [auto-translated] The Army contributes in an extraordinary way with personnel and resources to the largest annual NATO exercise, which will take place in Greece, Romania and Bulgaria from 10 to 21 February 2025.
STEADFAST DART [STDT] 25 is a joint activation and deployment exercise of the NATO Allied Reaction Force (ARF), programmed by NATO’s strategic level command – Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), based in Mons (Belgium) – and directed, at the operational level, by the Joint Command Naples (JFCNP) in Italy.
The primary objective is to test and train the operational deployment and reinforcement of ARF elements in NATO’s South-East Surveillance Area in peacetime, through which NATO aims to exert a deterrent effect against any threat against allied territory. Thus, the STDT 25 exercise is the culmination of the preparation of ARF 24, and the main demonstration on the ground of its full operability.
On the other hand, STDT25 will be the first deployment exercise of the ARF and the most visible of NATO in 2025, allowing it to demonstrate its response capacity. In addition, this exercise tests the ability of the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR) to activate the ARF, coordinate its rapid strategic deployment across multiple nations to converge in time and place and achieve a deterrent effect. In this context, the exercise will focus on the planning and execution of a multi-domain activity prior to a crisis, with the aim of reinforcing the Allied forces deployed in Romania, Greece and Bulgaria.

Participation of the Army in STDT25: Among the almost 3,000 soldiers that Spain will deploy for the exercise distributed among the four component commands of the Alliance, it is worth highlighting that the Joint Special Operations Command (MCOE) will lead the NATO Special Operations Component for two years (until June 2026), after passing an intense evaluation of its operational capabilities.
The Army’s contribution to the exercise will be as follows:
- Two National Support Elements (NSE) of around 30 soldiers with the mission of supporting the national contingent and the NATO RSOM (Reception, Staging, Onward Movement – Recepción, Concentración y Movimiento a Vanguardia) process, which is staffed by personnel from Brigada ‘Alfonso XIII’ II de La Legión, and different units of the Logistics Brigade (Agrupación de Sanidad nº1 – AGRUSAN 1), and Logistics Support Groups (Agrupaciones de Apoyo logístico – AALOG) No. 81, 11 and 21, which will also deploy personnel from the Transport Group Projection Support Group (Grupo de Apoyo a la Proyección de la Agrupación de Transporte – GAPRO/AGTP) in the terminal units (UTER) of Greece, Romania and Bulgaria).
- In the Land Component Command (LCC), a reinforced tactical group entity unit of around 730 soldiers, which will form part of the ARF LCC Brigade, composed of an infantry battalion, an anti-aircraft defence unit, a fire support unit and a sapper company, formed by personnel from Brigada ‘Alfonso XIII’ II de La Legión and reinforced with personnel from the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Command of the Manoeuvre Support Command.
- In the Special Operations Component Command (SOCC) of the ARF, the Special Operations Command (MOE) of the Ejército de Tierra will provide the bulk of the personnel, around 180 soldiers, that will have a Special Operations Land Task Group (SOLTG) and the Combat Service Support Unit (CSSU), and will include personnel from the Transmissions Command (MATRANS) that leads the Transmissions Unit (UTRANS), of a joint nature (supported with personnel from the Navy and the Air and Space Forces) and composed of five transmission centres designed to provide support to the entire SOCC.
The Spanish units began the strategic deployment on January 16, with the projection by sea towards the port of Alexandroúpoli (Greece).
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