🇺🇦 Ukrainian tankers train in Poland 🇵🇱 with NATO Allies - 31 JUL 2024

The powerful Leopard 2A4 main battle tank is the mainstay of many armies,including NATO Allies Poland and Norway.

Complex Air Exercise by NATO Nordic Partners,Allies Imminent

Arctic Challenge Exercise 2017 will soon be underway in Finland,Norway and Sweden.From 22 May to 2 June 2017,more than 100 aircraft and thousands of troops will stage the drills,which are held every two years.The core bases for the war games are Bodo,Norway;Lulea,Sweden;and Rovaniemi,Finland.This third iteration of the exercise is a project of the Nordic Defence Cooperation organisation (NORDEFCO).It aims to improve the capability of multinational forces to participate in combined air operations for the purpose of crisis management.ACE 17 will facilitate training for large-scale planning and implementation of air operations in an authentic operating environment,involving a wide range of aircraft and forces of modern air warfighting.*
Besides the three host nations,air forces from NATO Allies the Netherlands;Belgium;UK;Canada;France;Germany;and US will participate,along with Switzerland.They will send the following types of aircraft:multi-role fighters;transport and liaison;aerial refuelling tankers;EW aircraft;AWACS;transport and SAR helicopters,accompanied by ground troops and ground-based air defence units.*
Norway is the only country that is currently both a NATO ally and NORDEFCO member.*
For the first time,US Air Force Global Strike Command B-52H Stratofortress strategic bombers will take part in the drills.They will be part of a single mission at the end of ACE 17 and will not land at the Nordic bases.As well,some of the exercise aircraft will be deployed from their home bases beyond the actual training area.It is also notable that the aircraft types and numbers are subject to change.*
The exercise points up the growing closeness of NATO and NORDEFCO.It also highlights the increasing significance of the Arctic.

NATO Plans Steady Course in Afghanistan

The NATO Defence Ministers have decided to fund the Alliance's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan until at least 2020.They will also maintain troops across Afghanistan,NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of Norway said.*
At the same time,the US is reviewing its plans to nearly cut its troop strength in half next year,in light of the Alliance's strong support for the Mission.*
Before the Defence Ministers' meeting,President Barack Obama has ordered greater use of US airpower against the Taliban militants,including close air support for the Afghan National Defence and Security forces.This is because the Taliban Islamist extremists have increased attacks of late mostly in the southern provinces of Helmand,Kandahar and Uruzgan;while also increasing their strikes in the northern city of Kunduz.*
The NATO combat mission in Afghanistan ended on 31 December 2014.Today its Resolute Support Mission includes counterterrorist operations by US troops;and training Afghan soldiers and police by both the US and its NATO Allies and partners,NATO said.The US share of Resolute Support is called Operation Freedom's Sentinel.*
Besides the Taliban,the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant has become a significant threat to Afghan security.On Saturday,ISIL militants stormed a police base in Eastern Afghanistan,killing at least six.Among those killed in Haska Mina District in Nangarhar Province were District police chief Shah Mahmood,as well as five policemen and 11 ISIL militants.

SecDef Sets Forth Strategy at EUCOM Change of Command Ceremony

General Curtis M. Scaparrotti,US Army,assumed command of US European Command on 3 May in Stuttgart,Germany and NATO forces as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) on 4 May in Mons,Belgium.He replaces General Philip Breedlove who is retiring after three years in the conjointly held posts.Described as being intelligent,deliberate and personable,General Scaparrotti has previously held commands in Iraq,Afghanistan,the Pentagon and the Republic of Korea.*
At the EUCOM change of command ceremony at Stuttgart's Patch Barracks,US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter described the US view of the challenges faced by NATO and the steps being taken to address them.EUCOM covers 51 countries in Europe and Eurasia,including Israel,Afghanistan and the NATO allies.
Under General Breedlove's leadership,Mr.Carter said,NATO forces have been writing a new playbook.They've been innovating to counter new challenges like cyber and hybrid warfare;integrating conventional and nuclear deterrence;and adjusting our posture and presence so that we can be more agile in responding to new threats.The NATO force that General Breedlove leaves behind is stronger than the one he inherited.*
We haven't had to prioritise deterrence on NATO's Eastern Flank for the past 25 years;but while I wish it were otherwise,now we have to,despite the progress that we've made together since the end of the Cold War.We must demonstrate to potential foes that,if they start a war,we have the capabilities and capacity to ensure they regret it;because for a force to deter a conflict,it must show that it can dominate a conflict.*
Russia has appeared in recent years intent to erode the principled international order that has served us,our friends and allies,the international community,and Russia itself,so well for so long.Russia continues to violate the territorial integrity of Ukraine,Georgia and Moldova,and actively seeks to intimidate its Baltic neighbours.At sea and on land,in the air and space and cyberspace,Russian actors have engaged in challenging international norms-and,most disturbing,Moscow's nuclear sabre-rattling raises troubling questions about Russian commitment to strategic stability;their respect for norms against the use of nuclear weapons;and whether they respect the profound caution that nuclear age leaders showed with respect to the brandishing of nuclear weapons.*
In response,the US is taking a strong and balanced approach to counter Russia's aggression.We're strengthening our capabilities,our posture,our investments,our plans and our allies and partners,all without closing the door to working with Russia where our interests align,and we will continue to make clear that Russia's aggressive actions only serve to further its isolation and unite our alliance.Since Russia began its illegal attempt to annex Crimea a little over two years ago,the US has made valuable investments in reinforcing our NATO allies.For example,we're contributing to NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF),and stepping up our training and exercises under Operation Atlantic Resolve.
Our recent budget submission builds on that significantly.To further reinforce our NATO allies and build our deterrence posture in the face of Russia's aggression,this budget significantly increases funding for our European Reassurance Initiative,making a total investment of 3.4 billion dollars for this year,fiscal year 2017,which more than quadruples the amount we requested last year.This will allow us to increase the amount of warfighting equipment as well as the number of US forces,including reserve forces,rotating through Europe to engage with friends and allies.This increase supports head-to-toe rotations that maintain the persistent presence of an Armoured Brigade Combat Team,which will give us a total of three BCTs continuously present in Europe.It supports more training and exercises with our European allies and friends.It supports more warfighting gear,including forward-stationing equipment for an additional Armoured Brigade Combat Team by the end of 2017.It also supports the pre-positioning of equipment for a division headquarters and other enablers in Europe,such as this equipment,and along with assigned Army Airborne and Stryker Brigade Combat Teams,and Marine Corps heavy vehicles and equipment already in Europe.
All this will allow us to rapidly form a highly capable combined arms ground force of division-plus strength that can respond theatre-wide if necessary-and it helps strengthen our regional air superiority posture,among other things allowing us to keep an additional F-15C tactical fighter squadron based in Europe,and also improve airfield infrastructure to enhance operations for Air Force fighters and Navy Maritime Patrol Aircraft-all this to reinforce our enduring commitment to the security of our European partners.
Our budget also reflects how we're doing more in more ways with our NATO allies given increased Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic.It includes building toward a continuous arc of highly capable Maritime Patrol Aircraft operating over the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap and Norway's North Cape.It also includes delivering Europe's first stealthy F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft to our British allies and,given Russia's use of hybrid warfare,as exemplified by the so-called "little green men" in Ukraine,we're investing in more rotational presence of US Special Operations Forces exercising and training here in Europe.And,as we look to address the threats of the future as well as today,we're making significant investments in new technology-and when coupled with revised operational concepts,these technologies will ensure that we can deter and if necessary win a high-end conventional fight in an Anti-Access Area Denial environment across all domains and warfighting areas:air,land,sea,space,cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum.
These include new unmanned systems;enhanced ground-based air and missile defences;new long-range anti-ship weapons;the Long Range Strike Bomber;and also innovations in technologies like the electromagnetic rail gun;lasers;and new systems for Electronic Warfare;space and cyberspace.Finally,our budget also invests in modernising our nuclear deterrent.With these commitments,we will continue to build our capacity to deter a potential adversary like Russia,Mr.Carter stated in Stuttgart,Germany.

Copenhagen Is Fast-Approaching

The European Union is gearing up for next month's conference on climate change in Copenhagen,at which a successor to the Kyoto Accords is to be agreed.In a summit last week,the EU found that by 2020,developing nations will need 128 billion dollars a year to fight climate change.The EU pledged to contribute 74 billion to a fund to assist these emerging market states.The amount each EU member gives will be determined by the abilities of the donors.
Norway was the first EU member to raise interest rates since the financial crisis began-a sign of economic strength.The U.K is holding its rates steady.Many,if not all,EU members are keen to keep stimulus measures in place.Substantial promises of aid to other countries may thus be viewed with some degree of scepticism at this time.