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Old 02-07-2021, 04:32 AM
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Question Could This New NATO Command Help Halt a Russian Invasion Into the Baltics?

Could This New NATO Command Help Halt a Russian Invasion Into the Baltics?
By: David Axe - National Interest News - 02-07-21
Re: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/re...baltics-177770

Could they act quickly enough?

Key point: Because Russia could rapidly overrun the Baltics, NATO has a new post dedicated to rushing forces to its allies. However, it is unclear if this is enough.

NATO has stood up a new command whose job it is to speed alliance troops and tanks around Europe in order to defend against a Russian invasion.

The new Joint Support and Enabling Command, based in Ulm, Germany, achieved initial operating capability on Sept, 17, 2019, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu announced.

The command has its work cut out for it. A recent report revealed just how vulnerable NATO’s eastern flank is to a sudden Russian assault -- and how important armored forces could be in the alliance’s defensive efforts.

Russia keeps around 760 tanks in units within quick striking distance of NATO's Baltic members. NATO countries together keep around 130 tanks in the same region -- and around 90 of those are American M-1s on their temporary rotation.

In 2016 RAND war-gamed a Russian invasion of the Baltics. In RAND's scenario, the Russian forces quickly overrun lightly-armed NATO forces. The Western alliance quickly deploys helicopters and air-mobile troops to confront the Russian advance. But NATO tanks are too slow to arrive.

"What cannot get there in time are the kinds of armored forces required to engage their Russian counterparts on equal terms, delay their advance, expose them to more-frequent and more-effective attacks from air- and land-based fires and subject them to spoiling counterattacks," RAND explained.

Across NATO there’s no shortage of tanks and other heavy forces. But very few of NATO’s tanks are available on short notice to defend the alliance’s eastern flank. RAND counted just 129 NATO tanks that realistically could participate in a “short-notice Baltic scenario.”

By RAND’s count they could face as many as 757 Russian tanks that Moscow keeps on high readiness in the country’s western military district. Similarly, Russia deploys around 1,280 infantry fighting vehicles near its border with NATO, while NATO has just 280 fighting vehicles in the same region.

The heaviest most sophisticated American formations in particular are thin on the ground. For decades the U.S. Army maintained heavy forces in Europe in order to defend against the Soviet Union and later Russia. Force levels precipitously decreased following the end of the Cold War, but as late as 2012 the Army had four brigades in Europe, two of them with tanks.

The Obama administration cut the two Europe-based tank brigades in the wake of the 2011 debt-ceiling squabble with Congress that resulted in the Budget Control Act and automatic "sequestration" budget cuts. Army troops permanently in Europe declined from 40,000 to around 25,000.

Two years later in 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine. The Pentagon scrambled to restore its fighting strength in Europe. The Obama administration budgeted billions of dollars for temporary deployments to Europe under the auspices of the European Reassurance Initiative.

But a permanent increase in Europe-based forces was not in the offing. And five years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment with its 300 Stryker wheeled medium vehicles is the heaviest American formation that's always in Europe.

The Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade also is based in Europe. To bolster the airborne brigade and the 2nd ACR, the Army temporarily deploys one armored brigade at a time to the continent, each on a nine-month rotation. A typical armored brigade has around 90 M-1 tanks and 130 M-2 fighting vehicles plus around 18 M-109 self-propelled howitzers.

NATO’s new Joint Support and Enabling Command could help move around the U.S. vehicles as well as tanks belonging to the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Poland another other alliance states.

“The new command in Ulm will help our forces become more mobile and enable rapid reinforcement within the alliance, ensuring we have the right forces in the right place at the right time,” Lungescu said.

According to Stars and Stripes, the command could have 160 personnel by 2021. In a crisis its strength could swell to 600 people.

“Setting up new commands to manage the flow of forces in a crisis is one of the ways the alliance has tried to adapt,” Stars and Stripes noted. “NATO and the European Union also have discussed the need to streamline diplomatic clearances for troop movements as well as ensure that infrastructure on the continent — such as tunnels and bridges — are strong enough to handle tanks and other heavy military vehicles.”

About this writer: David Axe served as a defense editor for the National Interest. He is the author of the graphic novels War Fix, War Is Boring and Machete Squad. This article was first appeared in September 2019.

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Personal note: Putin may be an ass at times (but he's not stupid) he's super errogant - but he also knows to make a move like that would result in a dead man hand! As much as he would like to - he won't. The US Air Command is sprinkeled all around those states - and could hit his tanks quickly and he knows that. He may cross some borders but quickly he will be engaged in a war he doesn't really want to take on. Russia is greedy and so is NK and China. They always want more. With todays weapons and air power - whomever strikes first will feel the deadly heat of retailation from the air and later the ground. You would have to be an ass to attempt such a manuever - as the art of war can quickly alter itself to suspend anyones sudden agressive movements. If nukes are used - then we have a new story of total anniliation - and fallout contamination of the grounds they all want so badly. Killing thousands of bad guys but also taking civilian lives as well. The grounds they want so badly will be heavily contaminated by the nukes. There are no winners - when it comes to an all out war and exchange of nukes. To do so is like asking for a death wish! The same would apply to NK & China - they to may have a death wish - to risk a war with the weapons we have today in this world. Again No Winner's regardless of some idiots game plan.
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