NATO prepares biggest military revamp since Cold War

Europe, News July 4, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

The chairman of the NATO military committee announced on July 3, 2023, that the alliance has laid out one of the biggest military revamps since the Cold War. NATO’s latest military plan would be approved and adopted during the upcoming annual summit next week.

NATO’s top military official revealed that the latest military plan has been developed against the backdrop of Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive against the Russian invasion.

While speaking to the reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Dutch military officer and the chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said that “we should never underestimate Russians and their ability to bounce back.”

He added that the Ukrainian forces have made substantial progress in containing the Russian invasion. Of Russia’s ground forces, around “94% is now engaged in the war in Ukraine,” Bauer said.

NATO, as an organization, does not provide military assistance to Kyiv and claims not to be an active part of the Russia-Ukraine war. However, the alliance has been on its toes since the invasion started in 2022. Almost all NATO member states support Ukraine in the form of weapons and aid. At the same time, the alliance is massively reinforcing the security of member countries near Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

*^{NATO Military Committee being briefed aboard the USS Bataan. (Image Credit: NATO/IMS)}*

“What we see in general is that the Russians are careful around NATO. They are not for seeking a conflict with NATO. I think that is a sign that they are very, very busy,” Bauer said. “In the land domain, I don’t think they have a lot of forces available to do anything to anyone else.”

NATO’s latest military plan focuses on strengthening the eastern flank which has been divided into three zones, the high north, the Arctic area, and the north of the Alps. NATO aims to deploy 300,000 active troops in its eastern flank within 30 days of the approval of the new plan.

Bauer said that the new military plan has been based on the strength of the Russian army before the invasion of Ukraine, almost 17 months ago. He said that the war has heavily affected the capabilities of the Russian forces resulting in a depleting number of its active army.

“But we are convinced that the Russians are going to reconstitute,” he said. “We will continue to look at them as a serious threat, in the maritime, and in the air especially, and in space, they are still very, very, capable, let alone of course in nuclear.”

^{NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Genoana and Chair of the NATO Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer in a group photo taken during the NATO Chiefs of Defense Meeting in Brussels on January 18, 2023. (Image Credit: NATO)}

The major military shakeup of the alliance would be endorsed by NATO leaders that are set to meet in an annual summit at the Lithuanian capital Vilnius next week.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive

While talking about Ukraine’s counteroffensive, Bauer said that the landmines and other obstacles are providing the greatest difficulty for Ukrainian forces. “The counter offensive, it is difficult,” he said. “People should never think that this is an easy walk over. It will never be.”

“We saw in Normandy in the Second World War that it took seven, eight, nine weeks for the allies to actually break through the defensive lines of the Germans. And so, it is not a surprise that it is not going fast,” he added.

Satellite images show that Russian forces built extensive fortifications, trenches, and vehicle barriers laid with tons of landmines in the captured areas to slow down the advances of Ukrainian forces.

^{A Ukrainian serviceman looks on and a local resident rides a bicycle while a broken tank is pulled to a truck near the frontline town of Bakhmut, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the Donetsk region on January 20, 2023. (Image Credit: Reuters/Oleksandr Ratushniak)}

Top U.S. military official Mike Milley also expressed his concerns about the hardships that Ukrainian forces would have to face in their counter-offensive. While speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, Milley said that the counter-offensive would be very difficult, very long, and “very, very bloody”.