Poland and NATO have launched their largest military exercises of the year, deploying around 30,000 troops and over 600 tanks, aircraft, and missile systems, Polish broadcaster TVP World reported Wednesday. The maneuvers, codenamed “Iron Gate”, are being held in Orzysz, just 100 kilometers from the Suwałki Gap—a narrow corridor between Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave often described as NATO’s “Achilles’ heel.”
The drills are part of the broader “Iron Defender” series and aim to showcase alliance unity at a time of heightened tensions with Russia. They come just after Moscow and Minsk concluded their joint Zapad-2025 exercises, which Polish officials said simulated an attack on the Suwałki Gap. The maneuvers also follow a recent breach of Polish airspace by at least 19 suspected Russian drones, prompting Prime Minister Donald Tusk to warn this was “the closest we have been to open conflict since World War II.”
The exercises feature advanced military hardware including Abrams tanks, Apache helicopters, Patriot missile systems, and F-35 fighter jets, while also engaging multinational NATO battle groups stationed in Poland and neighboring states. The training extends to Lithuania, Latvia, and Sweden’s Gotland, reinforcing NATO interoperability. Demonstrations will continue Thursday in Nowa Dęba, southeastern Poland, after Tuesday’s historic firing of Patriot missiles on Polish soil.
