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BRUSSELS – UNITED STATES. Admiral James Foggo spent months preparing for NATO's largest exercise since the Cold War. His first goal: to reunite the 50,000 soldiers here by the beginning of the exercises on Thursday.
The movement of forces from 30 countries to Norway for Trident Juncture maneuvers was almost as ambitious as the exercises themselves. Ten thousand vehicles, 250 aircraft and 65 ships were dispatched, with the bulk of the equipment being directed to southern Norway.
Putting everything in place "is an important logistical challenge," said the US admiral, who leads the exercises and generally oversees the joint operations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Naples, Spain. Italy. A spokeswoman for NATO said that all troops and all equipment will be in position as planned "for the beginning of exercises for a period of one month.
On October 12, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, observing an F-18 Super Hornet landing on the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the North Sea. This aircraft carrier was heading to the Norwegian coast for the Trident Juncture exercise.
Photo:
johan falnes / epa / shutterstock
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that all forces are in place.
President Trump has repeatedly criticized European NATO members for not spending enough on defense. A more immediate problem is that Europeans have trouble moving the equipment they already have.
The logistical capabilities that were second nature during the Cold War have deteriorated. Barriers to mobility include the narrowness of rail and road tunnels, the diversity of railroad jigs and the legal restrictions on shipping ammunition across borders. Many European road and rail bridges are too low for large military vehicles to pass under or too weak to support a convoy of 100-ton tanks, officials said.
Mobility was carried out in parallel with the alliance's efforts to rebuild its arsenals, following Russia's seizure of Crimea by Russia in 2014. Military spending by European NATO members has increased significantly. 14% in constant dollars since the cold war hit around 2014.
"With a more assertive Russia, we are now focusing more than ever on military mobility in Europe," said Stoltenberg.
The logistics capacity restoration campaign includes both military equipment, such as modular bridges, and civilian infrastructure, including ports and waterways, officials said. Improving mobility can be more painful than buying weapons because of the civilian component. Politicians rarely associate railcars and customs regulations with national defense, but they can be critical. And since NATO is a coalition, the major exercises essential to combat readiness require international cooperation.
"People underestimate the logistics of combat," said Elisabeth Braw, associate member of the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. "We are still far behind Russia when it comes to moving a large number of troops."
A typical example: The British Army sent more than 70 armored personnel carriers and Land Rover to the Netherlands earlier this month for the purpose of traveling to Norway to test mobility. Before entering the country, any trace of British soil had to be removed to avoid possible contamination of Norwegian farms.
A Norwegian military veterinary expert "found land in unknown places," said Lt. Harry Busby, who helped oversee the convoy. The vehicles used the public road, driving in groups of nine and spaced 20 minutes to avoid traffic jams during this 1,500 km trip.
On October 10, infantry fighting vehicles Marder German armed forces are shipped to Norway for NATO maneuvers from the seaport of Emden, Lower Saxony.
Photo:
Mohssen Assanimoghaddam / Zuma Press
Smoothing logistics does not just mean moving troops into a combat zone or exercise. This could also deter attacks, said retired General Ben Hodges, who spent four years rebuilding his mobility skills as commander of the US Army forces in Europe. He fears that Russia or another adversary will be more adventurous if they believe that NATO can not react quickly.
"The Russians should believe that the alliance is able to defeat anything they can bring," said General Hodges, who retired in December. Quick action, he said, would guarantee "our politicians of other options that a campaign of liberation".
An Armored Transport Vehicle of the Bundeswehr is cleared on 16 September in the German port of Emden, Lower Saxony, on 16 September.
Photo:
Mohssen Assanimoghaddam / Zuma Press
After the seizure of Crimea, NATO and its members realized how much their logistical capabilities had atrophied with the extension of the alliance's territory. A dozen former communist countries have joined since 1999, pushing NATO's eastern border much closer. Yet NATO planners had "no knowledge" of their physical infrastructure such as bridges, said a NATO official. To remedy this, said the official, NATO has launched an investigation involving "a huge amount of work".
Officials have also identified hundreds of regulations in Europe that can slow down troop movements, from traffic laws to environmental regulations on hazardous materials. Efforts are beginning to change the laws, which restrict transport in peacetime but would be suspended in wartime.
In 2016, NATO and the European Union agreed to deepen cooperation in many areas, including mobility. The EU, which spends billions of euros every year to help its members finance infrastructure projects, adds NATO requirements to its standard specifications and spends 6.5 billion euros ($ 7.45 billion) of its next seven-year budget, starting in 2021, to transport safety facilities meet military needs.
At a NATO summit in July, leaders endorsed the creation of a new command to oversee logistics, mainly in Europe, and another for its own purpose. ensure that the Atlantic and Arctic shipping lanes remain open to supply Europe.
The Dutch ship Hr. Mrs. Johan de Witt, an amphibious transport ship, is loaded with vehicles and goods in Den Helder, the Netherlands, on October 15, in anticipation of the NATO exercise. in Norway.
Photo:
robin van lonkhuijsen / epa-efe / re / shutterstock
Alliance troops now routinely test their mobility, like the recent British convoy. The Iron Horse Armored Brigade of the US Army, based in Fort Hood, Texas, rotated for deployment in Eastern Europe via the Belgian port of Antwerp. Logistics specialists have used this move to test barges and truck drivers under contract, not just to train trains like two recent deployments. Several modes of transportation have allowed the equipment to leave the port more quickly, said an Army spokesman. This is exactly the kind of operational course planner who is now eager to learn.
"There are important signs of improvement" in moving troops across Europe, the spokesman said.
The next step for Europe will be to organize trucks, ships and wagons that can be convened at short notice, officials said. During the Cold War, the European State Railways kept thousands of platform wagons ready to transport tanks in a very short time. Since 1989, they have been flooded with waves of privatizations and cost reductions. The purchase of civilian military equipment is not included in the spending commitments of NATO members. It is therefore difficult to decide who will pay for assets that often remain unused.
General Hodges said that the purchase of transport equipment had the advantage of being less controversial than the purchase of weapons. "We do not ask for more German tanks. We are asking for more German trains, "he said. "Just go buy them."
Write to Daniel Michaels at [email protected]
