Germany is conducting large-scale military exercises aimed at transferring troops and equipment to Lithuania, according to the Associated Press.

German military leaders joined Baltic ambassadors and officers from other countries in the port of Rostock on Thursday to watch as a ferry loaded with military equipment left the harbor and headed for Klaipeda, escorted by police, a corvette, a minesweeper, and a helicopter. 

Military experts also demonstrated the interception of unmanned aerial vehicles in the air and on the water, while Eurofighter jets flew over the port.

The exercises, dubbed “Quadriga,” are being conducted under the leadership of the German Navy and its various components, with the participation of the Army and Air Force. More than 8,000 military personnel from 14 countries are taking part.

These include all NATO countries located on the Baltic Sea coast, as well as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Canada. The German military says that 40 ships, 20 aircraft, and more than 1,800 pieces of road equipment are participating in the exercises. General Carsten Breuer, Chief of Staff of the German Armed Forces, or Bundeswehr, said that “today we can see with our own eyes what it means when Germany takes on international responsibility” and acts as a “reliable supply hub for NATO. 

Quadriga will last several weeks, and its individual stages are expected to coincide in time, though not geographically, with joint military exercises that Russia and Belarus will conduct at the end of this month.