Michael Hikari Cecire in The National Interest arguing that NATO should react asymmetrically to military provocations from Russia: “What would this look like in practice? Exhaustively fortifying the Baltic States is likely a strategic nonstarter, as even a perfect defense would likely only invite Russian countermoves elsewhere. Instead, Western states might link Russian provocations with […]
NATO
Finland is planning mega-exercise in 2020
Finland is planning to hold an Aurora style exercise in 2020 with participation from Sweden, United States and others. Aurora was a Swedish exercise that was held in September and involved 19,000 troops. Finnish defense minister Jussi Niinisto explained that the exercise will gather conscripts, reservists, and soldiers to practice. “If there’s a crisis, it […]
Jamming of phones and GPS during Zapad causes concerns
Did Russia jam GPS signals in Norway and phone services in Latvia and Sweden and during exercise Zapad in September? Apparently there are many indications that they did, and now Secretary-General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg has expressed his concerns about the Russian demonstrations of electronic warfare capabilities. Ideally, military units have redundant systems so they […]
Europe should prepare to defend itself without America
Europe desires a fundamentally disinterested protector, but the European countries better realize that America’s unwillingness to provide that security will continue to grow, writes Jeremy Shapiro in this insightful piece in [War On The Rocks] [WTHR link]: But presidential incompetence and the public’s lack of interest is a weak foundation on which to build a […]
NATO needs exercises like Zapad
John R. Deni for Carnegie Europe: One area where the West has struggled though is in mounting the kind of capability display similar to Zapad 2017. That is, deploying large-scale combat power from across the continent and across the Atlantic for the purposes of conducting corps-level training, maneuvers, and live fire, all to achieve tactical, […]
It’s time for NATO to Look North
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 […]
What to do with a few tanks in Tallinn
Thoughtful piece by Corporal Frisk about the possible tactical reflections behind the small number of British tanks stationed in Estonia: Traditionally, it has been held that tanks better stay out of cities. Incidents such as the destruction of Russian motorised units and their armour support during the first battle of Grozny has added to this […]
New Marine rotation arrives in Norway
The second rotation of American Marines has arrived in Norway, reports Marine Corps Times: The Norwegian government has approved six-month rotations of about 300 Marines in Norway through 2018. The Marines also store military equipment in caves near Trondheim, Norway, to make sure that a Marine Air-Ground Task Force has what it needs for cold […]