The U.S. will reduce its military presence in Europe for NATO, according to the NYT
The United States plans to significantly reduce the number of aircraft and ships allocated for NATO operations in Europe. The U.S. side already communicated these plans to its allies in a written document in early June.
The biggest changes will affect the Alliance’s air component.
Specifically, the U.S. plans to:
- reduce the number of F-16 and F-15E fighter jets from 150 to 100;
- reduce maritime reconnaissance aircraft from 26 to 15;
- completely withdraw all eight refueling aircraft that were previously available for operations in Europe.
In addition, Washington intends to redeploy part of its naval forces to other areas.
According to published information, the U.S. plans to:
- redeploy a submarine equipped with cruise missiles;
- withdraw an aircraft carrier along with its escort ships from the European theater;
- reduce the number of strategic bombers.
In particular, one of the two strategic aviation groups designated for the defense of Europe will be withdrawn.
At the same time, the Pentagon declined to comment on specific figures and the scale of the upcoming changes.
Experts note that the reduction of the U.S. presence could affect a number of the Alliance’s key capabilities.
Specifically, this includes:
- a reduction in long-range strike capabilities;
- a reduction in maritime reconnaissance capabilities;
- a weakening of capabilities to detect and track Russian submarines;
- a reduction in the level of operational support for allies in Europe.
According to sources, the implementation of the plan will begin much sooner than U.S. European partners had anticipated.
The reduction of U.S. forces in Europe comes as Washington reviews its global military priorities and reallocates resources to other strategic areas.
This is reported by the NYT.
NATO countries plan to grant more authority to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. General Aleksas Grinkevičius, to improve the effectiveness of responses to air threats on the eastern flank.
Sweden believes that Russia could pose a military threat to NATO countries much sooner than previously predicted. This is stated in a new report by the country’s parliamentary defense committee.
