Europe Faces Yearslong Defense Gap as U.S. Pulls 5,000 Troops From Germany
Updated
Updated · Stars and Stripes · Sep 17
Europe Faces Yearslong Defense Gap as U.S. Pulls 5,000 Troops From Germany
1 articles · Updated · Stars and Stripes · Sep 17
Summary
A new IISS assessment says Europe could face a yearslong conventional-defense gap because allies are being pushed to assume NATO’s lead role before their forces are ready.
The report says personnel, artillery, air defense and ammunition stockpiles remain deficient across many NATO countries, with shortcomings unlikely to be fixed before the end of the decade despite hundreds of billions in rearmament.
U.S. cuts are already adding pressure: Washington plans to move 5,000 personnel out of Germany, ended an Army brigade’s rotational mission in Poland and has reduced forces earmarked for NATO crisis plans.
Those reductions could leave Europe more exposed in the North Atlantic, Baltic Sea and eastern flank, where allies still lack continuous undersea surveillance, fuel distribution, medical evacuation, heavy-armor rail capacity and mobile bridging equipment.