Canada will send troops, jets and warships to participate in a massive NATO training exercise next year in a deployment that could be the first step towards deeper involvement in the alliances long-term strategy to counter a resurgent Russia.

The units will participate in a test of the military alliances crisis response brigade, The Canadian Press has learned.

The exercise, known as Trident Juncture 2015, will be held in Italy, Spain and Portugal over several months and built around a scenario where NATO responds to an attack against a member country.

We are planning to commit tactical forces, maritime, air and land to the live (fire) exercise, Lt.-Gen. Stuart Beare, the countrys joint operations commander, told The Canadian Press in a recent interview.

It is a significant decision because NATO is pushing behind the scenes to significantly expand the size of its rapid reaction force. The alliance already announced last week it plans to base soldiers in eastern Europe to reassure jittery allies.

The crisis response unit currently compromised of 13,000 high-readiness troops, a headquarters and reserve formations operates on a rotational basis with different nations committing forces for up to a year at a time.

Next years participation in the exercise does not commit Canada to become part of that rotation, but it could set the stage.

Those are strategic and political decisions, said Beare. I cant answer the question specifically, but I can tell you we are acting in a way that, if we do, well be really, really good at it.

Taking part in the exercise would help the military reacquaint itself with how NATO does business on its home turf, a familiarity that has been lost since the last Canadian Cold War garrison was withdrawn from Europe in the 1990s.

What is unclear heading into this weeks NATO summit in Wales is whether the Harper government is prepared to foot the bill to be a regular member of the quick reaction force, which U.S. officials have suggested could see its leading elements based in central Poland around a base that hosted NATO training this summer.

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Canada to send troops for NATO training excercise