Ankara, Turkey. NATO is set to announce at next week’s summit in Ankara that its European members have filled almost all the gaps left by the United States in the alliance’s defence plans, according to NATO officials and sources who spoke to Reuters. The main shortfall still not fully covered is in strategic bombers.
U.S. reduces capabilities committed to NATO
The United States told allies in May that it had decided to reduce the pool of military capabilities committed to the transatlantic alliance in a crisis, raising questions ahead of the July 7-8 NATO summit in Ankara.
According to NATO’s top commander, U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, the move is intended to gradually end what he described as an “unhealthy co-dependence” on U.S. forces as Washington faces the possibility of simultaneous conflicts in multiple theatres.
European allies increase contributions
In mid-June, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said other allies were increasing their contributions and would fill “a lot” of the gaps, without providing details.
A senior NATO military official said European allies had largely filled the gaps left by American reductions to the NATO Force Model within a matter of weeks.
A NATO source told Reuters that nearly all of the gaps had been addressed by European members.
Strategic bombers remain the main gap
The main capability NATO is still struggling to replace is in strategic bombers, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The source said the United States will make only one aircraft available instead of two.
Details of the reductions
The United States did not publicly disclose the details of its reductions, but figures provided to Reuters by a military source indicated cuts across several categories, including refuelling aircraft, fighter jets, drones and ships.
The number of U.S. F-15 and F-15E fighter jets available to NATO will fall by a third to 99, while the number of MQ-4 and MQ-9 Reaper drones will be halved to 12.
The number of KC-135 and KC-46 refuelling aircraft will decline to 63 from 79. Only one strategic bomber and one aircraft carrier would be allocated instead of two.
The number of maritime patrol aircraft will decrease to 15 from 26, the number of destroyers will fall to nine from 17, and the only submarine carrying cruise missiles will also be removed from the commitments.
