BRUSSELS – NATO will hold its major annual nuclear exercise next week, the alliance’s chief announced Friday, with an important part of the drill to focus on protecting the weapons before they're ever used.

The long-planned “Steadfast Noon” exercise, which starts on Monday, is taking place amid heightened security around military facilities in Europe due to a series of mysterious drone incidents , some of them blamed on Russia.

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Steadfast Noon will run for about two weeks. It will be led by the Netherlands and involve 71 aircraft from 14 NATO countries. The exercise has been held at roughly the same time each year for over a decade.

“We need to do this because it helps us to make sure that our nuclear deterrent remains as credible, and as safe, and as secure, a

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