Sweden and Germany have deployed a combined force of about 1,500 military personnel to the Swedish island of Gotland in a large-scale reinforcement operation designed to test NATO plans for rapidly strengthening the defence of the Baltic Sea region. The operation brought German troops into Visby harbour alongside Swedish forces while naval vessels and combat aircraft from both countries secured the surrounding sea routes and airspace.
The deployment forms part of Silver Wotan 2026, a bilateral Swedish-German exercise taking place from September 14 to September 23 around Gotland and along Sweden’s southeast coast. The Bundeswehr says more than 500 German personnel are participating in the wider exercise, operating with Swedish forces across the land, maritime and air domains. The Swedish Armed Forces said the rapid-reinforcement phase involved a total of 1,500 personnel from Swedish and German units.
At the centre of the operation is a practical test of how allied troops and equipment could be moved quickly onto Gotland if the island required reinforcement. German units landed at Visby, the island’s main port, while forces on land secured the harbour so that additional personnel, vehicles and military equipment could continue moving ashore. Swedish and German naval and air units simultaneously protected the approaches to the island.
The Swedish Armed Forces said coastal-defence cruise missiles were deployed to Gotland during the operation. German forces helped escort and protect the movement of the Swedish coastal-defence units, while fighter aircraft patrolled overhead. Swedish corvettes and German frigates provided protection at sea, creating a combined defensive screen around the transport route and the port.
Official photographs released by Sweden showed Swedish JAS 39 Gripen E fighters operating alongside German Panavia Tornado aircraft during the exercise. The Bundeswehr separately confirmed that two Tornado multirole combat aircraft were being used for airspace surveillance as part of Silver Wotan. German naval and air-force personnel are also involved in protecting harbour facilities, military convoys and installations.
The exercise scenario assumes that Sweden requests NATO support because Swedish forces are committed elsewhere on the mainland and Gotland requires additional protection. German forces are then tasked with moving rapidly to the island, securing Visby harbour and supporting Sweden’s coastal-defence capabilities. The scenario allows both militaries to test command procedures, communications, transport arrangements and the integration of units arriving from another NATO country.
German Lieutenant General Alexander Sollfrank, commander of the Bundeswehr’s Operational Command, described Gotland as an operational and strategic hub in the Baltic. He said secure ports, sea routes and airspace are necessary for NATO to retain freedom of action in the region, particularly if allied forces need to move toward the alliance’s northern or eastern flank.
Gotland’s location gives the island unusual significance in Baltic defence planning. It lies in the central Baltic Sea, east of the Swedish mainland and between major areas of northern and eastern Europe. From a military-planning perspective, forces based on or moving through the island can contribute to surveillance and protection of maritime and air routes used to connect Nordic NATO members with the Baltic states and continental Europe.
The Baltic Sea is bordered by eight NATO members: Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Russia also maintains Baltic access through the St Petersburg region and its Kaliningrad exclave. The concentration of alliance territory around the sea has increased the importance NATO planners attach to the ability to keep ports and transport corridors functioning during a crisis.
For Sweden, Silver Wotan is also a test of the practical arrangements required to receive allied reinforcements. The exercise goes beyond moving German soldiers onto Swedish territory. It requires military planners to coordinate port security, convoy protection, logistics, air cover and naval escorts while simultaneously positioning Swedish weapon systems on Gotland.
Major General Stefan Sandborg, deputy chief of Joint Operations in the Swedish Armed Forces, said the deployment demonstrated the close level of cooperation between Sweden and Germany and showed that Sweden would not be isolated in the defence of the Baltic Sea. The Swedish military described rapid reinforcement of Gotland as dependent on the ability to defend ports, sea lines of communication and allied airspace.
The movement of the coastal-defence missile unit is particularly relevant to the exercise’s maritime dimension. Such systems are designed to engage hostile surface vessels and can therefore contribute to denying an adversary freedom of movement near strategically important coastlines. In Silver Wotan, German forces were assigned to help protect the Swedish systems as they moved to Gotland and entered defensive positions.
The operation also places significant emphasis on Visby harbour. Rather than treating the port solely as a logistical destination, participating forces are practising how it could be secured as an active military entry point while personnel and equipment are being unloaded. Swedish officials have stressed that functioning ports would be essential for reinforcing not only Gotland but also other parts of the Baltic region during a NATO collective-defence operation.
Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported that the transport included coastal missile equipment carried by sea under escort from Swedish and German warships and combat aircraft. Manne Schagerström of the Swedish Armed Forces’ operational command told SVT that the forces were protecting the movement with operational weapons, underscoring the exercise’s emphasis on realistic procedures rather than a purely simulated staff drill.
German forces have characterised Silver Wotan as a demonstration of how quickly the two countries can move and integrate military capabilities. The Bundeswehr said the exercise covers joint operations on land, in the air and at sea, including securing military facilities and protecting convoys. Later phases include anti-surface warfare training intended to demonstrate the ability of Swedish and German units to operate together against maritime threats.
Sollfrank said the exercise should not be viewed as a reaction to one specific political or military event. He said the increased frequency of exercises on NATO’s northern and eastern flanks reflects the broader change in Europe’s security environment and concerns over military and hybrid activities. The distinction is important because Swedish and German officials are presenting Silver Wotan as part of continuing defence planning rather than an emergency deployment triggered by an immediate incident.
The German commander also highlighted hybrid threats alongside conventional military risks. In an interview published by the Bundeswehr before the Gotland operation, Sollfrank cited cyberattacks, sabotage, espionage and disinformation as persistent challenges that NATO countries must consider together with traditional military threats. He argued that closer cooperation among Baltic states is necessary to improve surveillance, resilience and protection of regional infrastructure.
Security surrounding Silver Wotan has consequently extended beyond the troops directly taking part. SVT reported that Swedish police are running a security operation on Gotland and using drones during the exercise. Police documents obtained by the broadcaster referred to an elevated threat assessment connected with the international security environment and the scale of the operation.
According to the documents cited by SVT, authorities are concerned about the possibility of sabotage and unauthorized intelligence collection by foreign actors. At the same time, police said there were no identified concrete threats against the operation. The increased security measures therefore represent precautions around a high-profile military activity rather than a response to a confirmed attack plan.
The presence of 1,500 Swedish and German personnel is part of a broader pattern of exercises testing how Gotland could receive reinforcements from different NATO allies. Swedish officials noted that Poland practised reinforcement of the island during an exercise in 2025, while forces from the United States, United Kingdom and Denmark participated in reinforcement training during exercises in Sweden earlier in 2026.
Those activities reflect a shift from treating Gotland mainly as a Swedish territorial-defence responsibility toward integrating the island into multinational NATO planning. Sweden joined NATO in 2024, adding its territory, military infrastructure and armed forces to alliance defence structures. Exercises such as Silver Wotan are intended to turn political commitments to collective defence into rehearsed military procedures involving real units, ports, ships, aircraft and command chains.
Germany’s participation also reflects Berlin’s growing operational role in northern and eastern European defence. In addition to maritime and air contributions in the Baltic, Germany has expanded its military presence in Lithuania and participates in NATO reinforcement and infrastructure-protection efforts across the eastern flank. Silver Wotan gives German forces an opportunity to practise deploying northward into Sweden while working under a bilateral command structure linked to NATO defence planning.
For both countries, one of the central questions is whether reinforcement can occur quickly enough to matter in the opening stages of a crisis. Moving units to an island requires access to ports and shipping, control of surrounding sea approaches, protection against air attack and the ability to unload and disperse equipment without creating a vulnerable concentration of forces. Silver Wotan combines those elements into a single operation.
The use of Swedish fighters and German Tornados gives the air component responsibility for surveillance and protection while maritime forces escort transport vessels and guard sea lanes. Ground personnel secure facilities after the force arrives. The exercise therefore tests a chain of activities extending from the departure of units and equipment on the Swedish mainland to their protected arrival and deployment on Gotland.
The Swedish Armed Forces have emphasised that the forces involved will return to their normal permanent locations once the operation is complete. That distinguishes the exercise from a permanent increase in the garrison on Gotland. The purpose is to prove that reinforcement can be conducted rapidly when required and that foreign allied forces can be incorporated into Sweden’s defence plans without lengthy preparation.
Silver Wotan is scheduled to continue through September 23, with Swedish and German units conducting further joint activity around Gotland and Sweden’s southeastern coastline. Military authorities are expected to use the remaining phases to assess integration between their air, naval and ground components and evaluate whether transport, harbour security and coastal-defence procedures worked as intended.
For NATO planners, the larger significance lies in converting reinforcement plans into procedures that units have physically rehearsed. The Gotland operation required Swedish and German forces to move personnel and weapon systems, secure a civilian and military transport hub, protect sensitive equipment and coordinate naval and air cover at the same time. It offered a test of whether different national forces could perform those tasks within one operational framework.
The exercise therefore places Gotland at the centre of a wider question facing NATO in the Baltic: how quickly allied militaries can move forces across national borders and maritime routes if a member state requires reinforcement. Sweden and Germany are using Silver Wotan to demonstrate that such movement can involve not only troops but also coastal missile systems, naval escorts, combat aircraft and protected logistical infrastructure.
As the exercise continues, Swedish and German officials are presenting the deployment as both a readiness test and a practical demonstration of collective defence. The immediate objective is the rapid reinforcement and protection of Gotland. The broader objective is to ensure that ports, airspace and sea routes across the Baltic can remain usable for allied forces in a more demanding security environment.
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