Steadfast Noon 2026: NATO's nuclear exercise in Italy, dates, duration and what we know

Since today, Tuesday 13 October 2026, Italy has been hosting Steadfast Noon, NATO's annual nuclear deterrence exercise. Several people in Ticino have asked me whether it is true and whether there is anything to worry about. The short answer: yes, it is true; no, it is not an exercise for an ongoing nuclear attack, and no real weapons are used.

Here I gather what is known, citing a source for every statement.

A note on method: I report only information published by NATO, by the Italian Air Force through the press, and by reputable news outlets. Where sources disagree, I say so. I do not comment on governments' political choices.

What Steadfast Noon is

Steadfast Noon is an exercise NATO holds every year, hosted in rotation by a different ally. NATO itself describes it as a long-planned, routine training activity that maintains readiness and tests the procedures on which the Alliance's deterrence rests.

The principle behind it is nuclear sharing: some European countries provide dual-capable aircraft, able to carry both conventional and nuclear weapons, while the US nuclear weapons deployed in Europe remain under US control and custody, as Defence Industry Europe notes in summarising NATO's position.

The key point: no nuclear weapon is used or carried during the exercise. This has been stated by NATO and by the Italian Air Force, which said that "no live ammunition is to be used", as reported by Il Sole 24 Ore and Quotidiano.net.

How long it lasts: the dates

The sources do not say exactly the same thing about the duration, and it is worth seeing why.

In short: the exercise as a whole lasts about ten days, while flight activity in Italian airspace notified to civil traffic is planned between 13 and 20 October. The two pieces of information do not contradict each other: an exercise also includes planning phases and activity in other countries. According to the same document, actual route closures are announced the day before: that is why I do not give specific days and times, which may change. Anyone who needs to fly or sail in the areas concerned should rely solely on official notices from the aviation and maritime authorities.

Where it takes place

The host country is Italy (NATO). NATO has not named the bases, but the Italian press has:

• according to Il Sole 24 Ore and Quotidiano.net, the main bases are Aviano (Pordenone) and Ghedi (Brescia), with other locations across the Alliance's area of responsibility, including the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom;
• according to Euronews, reading the map in the ENAV document, aircraft converge on the Tyrrhenian Sea also from Amendola, Gioia del Colle and Trapani, and areas over international waters are marked as dangerous.

According to AP, most of the activity takes place near Italy, far from Russia.

Who takes part

For a sense of scale: the 2025 edition, hosted by the Netherlands, involved more than 70 aircraft, 14 countries and about 2,000 personnel, according to Defence Industry Europe. Those are 2025 figures, not 2026 ones.

Not the first time in Italy

Italy has already hosted Steadfast Noon six times: in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2021 and 2023, as Il Sole 24 Ore and Euronews point out. In recent years the exercise was held in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2024, and mainly in the Netherlands in 2025 (Quotidiano.net).

Why it is getting more attention this year

The international context

In late September Russia warned NATO allies against trying to cut off its Kaliningrad exclave, between Poland and Lithuania. A statement from the Russian embassy in Ireland said Moscow would use "all its arsenal, including nuclear weapons" to defend its territory, as reported by AP.

NATO replied that the exercise has not been postponed, that it poses no threat to Russia and that, while Russian nuclear rhetoric is rising, it has seen no worrying changes in Moscow's nuclear posture. This was stated by Nassima Barrows, NATO's head of nuclear policy, again according to AP. Secretary General Mark Rutte reiterated that "NATO is a defensive Alliance" (Brussels Times).

The political debate in Italy

In Italy the news also surfaced through politics. On 7 October the MP Angelo Bonelli (AVS, Greens and Left Alliance) announced a parliamentary question to Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, arguing that Parliament had not been informed, as reported by Euronews. His questions, according to Il Sole 24 Ore, include whether the regions concerned, Sardinia among them, were informed, how civil air traffic is protected, and what environmental and noise assessments were carried out.

The Italian Air Force stated that the exercise was planned long in advance as part of NATO's regular calendar and "is not linked to specific crises" (Euronews).

News found in a public document

There is one detail that, from the point of view of my profession, is the most interesting part of the whole story. According to Euronews, the information on dates and areas was pieced together from a supplement to Italy's Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP), published by ENAV on 20 August 2026 and accessible with free registration. A technical document intended for civil pilots, which mentions neither nuclear weapons nor participating countries, but does list days, times and reserved zones.

The investigator's lesson. A lot of information that seems confidential is in fact already public, scattered across technical documents nobody reads. The analyst's job is not "uncovering secrets" but knowing where to look, connecting sources, and distinguishing what a document says from what people read into it. I wrote about this in the article on what an OSINT analyst does.

Myths and facts

And for people living in Ticino?

Switzerland is not a NATO member, and the sources consulted give no indication of any Swiss involvement or of routes over Swiss territory. The notified flight activity concerns Italian airspace and above all the Tyrrhenian Sea (Euronews).

So there is nothing in particular to do. Anyone who wants to be prepared for emergencies in general, of whatever kind, can find official guidance on Alertswiss and some practical advice in my guide to emergency supplies at home. But that is a good habit, not a reaction to this news.

In short

Steadfast Noon is news worth knowing about, not news to fear. The international context is tense, and understanding what is really happening, separating facts from alarmist headlines, is the best way to deal with it.

Main sources: NATO, "NATO holds annual nuclear exercise Steadfast Noon" (8 October 2026); Associated Press, "NATO presses ahead with Steadfast Noon nuclear drill after Russia's nuclear warning" (8 October 2026); Il Sole 24 Ore, A. Carli (8 October 2026); Euronews (7 October 2026); Quotidiano.net (9 October 2026); Brussels Times (9 October 2026); Defence Industry Europe; ENAV, AIP Italy supplement AIRAC S56/26, as reported by Euronews.