Germany is working through a scenario that envisions a potential armed confrontation with Russia, including a massive eastward deployment of NATO forces. According to The Wall Street Journal, which reviewed the internal planning documents, the scenario involves the movement of up to 800,000 alliance troops.

The publication reports that the plan, known as OPLAN DEU, began to take shape roughly two and a half years ago. A group of senior German officers met behind closed doors at a military facility in Berlin to outline possible responses in the event of direct military escalation. Today, the planning phase has shifted toward practical implementation.

The document describes in detail how German, American and other NATO personnel-potentially numbering in the hundreds of thousands-would be transferred toward the eastern flank. Maps included in the plan mark out ports, waterways, rail routes and highways that would be used for troop movements, as well as the logistics and security measures required along the way.

Germany is viewed as the central transit hub for this buildup, though the projected frontline does not run through its territory.

However, as the WSJ notes, Berlin faces significant obstacles in turning this scenario into reality. Key challenges include a peacetime bureaucracy that complicates mobilization and data-protection processes, inadequate infrastructure, and the need to factor in emerging risks-among them the prospect of large-scale drone use.