15,000 German soldiers, 5,000 combatants in Romania… This is how NATO rearms against Russia

Vladimir Putin’s worst nightmare has come true. NATO, which the Russian president has accused so many times of approaching his borders, plans to expand. Now really and with all of the law. Not only with the incorporation of Finland and Sweden, which have been officially invited to join the organization at the Madrid summit, but also with an unprecedented military deployment since the Cold War.

With its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has made the Nordic countries abandon their historic neutrality. Also, that the most demilitarized nation in Europe, Germanyannounced in May an increase in its defense spending and, now, decides to put 15,000 of its soldiers at the disposal of the Alliance, which plans to expand its rapid response troops in the east to more than 300,000.

A historic decision that has led the President of the United States, Joe Bidento announce an impressive increase in its military forces on European soil, with land, sea and air means. All with the aim of deterring and defending against Russia. Because now, this power is considered “the greatest threat to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area”, according to the new Security Concept approved this Wednesday by the heads of State and Government of NATO.

To understand the impact of the review of collective defense, it is enough to see the deployment of forces that NATO currently has in Europe. Or, specifically, since Putin decided to invade Ukraine and shoot at the waterline of the international order assumed for decades.

[Putin ataca un centro comercial tras anunciar la OTAN que pondrá 300.000 soldados en su frontera]

From 40,000 to more than 300,000 soldiers

In total, as of June 2022, about 40,000 troops they are under direct command of the Atlantic Alliance on the eastern flank of Europe. Mainly deployed in Poland (11,600 troops), Romania (4,500), Latvia (4,000) and Lithuania (3,700). To a lesser extent, the rest of the countries that share a border with Russia, such as Estonia, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary, also have allied soldiers on their territory.

More than 140 ships and 130 aircraft complete the NATO ground forces deployed in Eastern Europe

But for defend every inch of territory of the allies must also be done in the other domains. That is why, while cyberspace is controlled from the NATO Cooperative Cyber ​​Defense Center of Excellence in Tallinn, a air surveillance patrol made up of 130 planes flies over the area 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In some nations, such as Romania, Latvia or Poland, there are also air defense systems. While in the sea there are 140 boatsmostly American, but also Spanish and British, carrying out operations in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

USA reaches out (further)

In addition to this deployment directly supervised by the Alliance, each member country contributes its own troops. Then there is the United States, which has neither more nor less than a total of 100,000 soldiers in Europeafter it sent an additional 20,000 forces earlier this year in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

And the figure will soon increase. Because for Biden, the “NATO is needed more now than ever”. That is why he will increase his troops in different parts of the continent, as he announced on Wednesday during the summit. Far from being a generality, the US president detailed a series of reinforcements from which Spain will benefit, among others.

Especially since the US will increase its naval contingent at the Spanish base of Rota, in Cádiz, with two more destroyers (they will go from four to six) and 600 marines to defend both the Mediterranean and NATO’s southern flank.

In addition, Washington intends to install in Poland a permanent headquarters for its Fifth Army Corps and position a support battalion on Polish territory to, in Biden’s words, “increase operability on the entire eastern flank.”

Also to Romania will arrive some 3,000 new fighters belonging to a rotating brigade that will join the 2,000 national soldiers in the territory. Biden’s plans do not end there. Among his announcements, he highlights the reinforcement of the military presence in the Baltic countries, of which he has not specified how or how many troops.

The same has been said of the anti-aircraft defenses in Germany and Italy, where it goes to “strengthen your positioning”. A measure that will extend to United Kingdomcountry to which it will send two extra squadrons of F-35 fighter jets.