• Russia
  • Military strategy
  • YouTube Channel
  • About
    ▲
    • Privacy Policy
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Romeo Squared

Defense with a Baltic edge

  • Russia
  • Military strategy
  • YouTube Channel
  • About
    • Privacy Policy

It’s time for NATO to Look North

2017-09-17 By Anders Puck Nielsen Leave a Comment

Julianne Smith and Rachel Rizzo in Defense One:

It also requires a change in strategy and acquisition policy for individual NATO allies, particularly those bordering the North Atlantic. Unfortunately, many NATO allies have allowed their maritime capabilities in the region to wane over the last two decades. Earlier this year, five senior retired members of the British Royal Air Force warned that the UK’s lack of planes to hunt Russian subs in the North Atlantic has left their Trident nuclear deterrent vulnerable to Russian spying. NATO’s Atlantic facing members also possess far fewer capabilities than they did 20 years ago. In 1995, they had around 100 frigates, but today that number hovers at about 50. The United States, for example, has shifted most of it 52 attack submarines to the contested Asia Pacific region.

NATO’s current maritime strategy in the North Atlantic reflects the perceived threat from the Yeltsin era Russia. Now we need to consider what another two decades with Putin could bring.

The thing about maritime capabilities is that it takes so long to build them. You must project the navy that you expect to need 20 years from now. Russia just published a new naval doctrine but NATO’s acquisition strategy should match another generation or two down the line.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit

Related

Filed Under: Navy Tagged With: NATO

Anders Puck Nielsen is the writer of the Romeo Squared blog. He is a military analyst at the Center for Maritime Operations at the Royal Danish Defense College.

Reader Interactions

< Previous
Next >

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Follow blog

Follow blog on Twitter
Follow blog on Facebook

Featured

HMS Defender’s encounter with Russia’s coastguard off Crimea

Here are a few quick thoughts on yesterday’s incident where Russian ships and aircraft fired warning shots on the British destroyer HMS Defender off Crimea. This was a deliberate freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) by the Royal Navy. HMS Defender purposefully transited closer than 12 nautical miles from Crimea. This point is important to stress […]

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Romeo Squared