UK runs NATO war drill from disused London Tube stop
- By Reuters -
- May 23, 2026
A disused platform of London’s Charing Cross Tube station was transformed into a temporary military headquarters for a NATO wargame exercise this week involving hundreds of personnel from the United States, Britain, France and Italy.
The Ministry of Defence said on Friday the exercise had tested technologies and methods intended for real-world use if NATO were called on to defend its European allies.
It comes at a time of heightened tension between NATO and Russia over the war in Ukraine and as Moscow conducts major military drills, including nuclear exercises.
Images released by the MoD showed uniformed personnel delivering briefings in front of temporary screens displaying military maps on a now-defunct Jubilee Line platform, last used by commuters more than 25 years ago.
The exercise simulated a conflict in Estonia in which NATO’s Article 5 collective defence clause was triggered, requiring forces to respond to a threat on the alliance’s eastern flank.
Led by the UK-based Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, NATO’s rapid-reaction force, the drill tested how commanders could plan and direct operations involving up to 100,000 troops across land, sea and air.