Fear in NATO? The London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank published a military report today (Monday) in which a series of deficiencies in the European air forces were exposed for years, “which require urgent corrections in view of the aggression of Moscow and Beijing”. According to the report, “Critical capabilities have disappeared from the air forces, and this could harm air superiority against Russia, or any other modern air adversary.”
It was also written that the deficiencies found appeared in a defense system and long-term attack capabilities. According to the authors of the report, “Air power is the city of NATO’s firepower, and maintaining this is key to deterring the Russian military.” NATO’s air forces have declined in recent decades.” The detailed analysis examined several aspects of the air forces, such as the maintenance and training circular, and the possession of weapons to destroy the enemy’s air defenses.
NATO soldiers in an exercise (Photo: Reuters)
A former senior British military official, retired Marshal Sean Bell, “Putin’s invasion proved that the West cannot afford to be complacent about its defense. A reduction in defense spending at the end of the Cold War left significant gaps in our military capability.” In addition, he said that “the report is not surprising, the air forces focused on irrelevant threats, the real threats to security were ignored. The war on terrorism dried up the air force’s power resources.”
The RUSI report also warned NATO that the alliance should be prepared for US attention to be focused on China. The source briefed on the details said that “the Chinese threat means that fewer US military assets will be available to strengthen Europe. That means Russia will be able to make the most of it. China is where the US is focused. There is no doubt that Russia benefits from the US focus on the Chinese military.”