According to experts from the Swedish Defense Research Institute, NATO countries do not conduct enough exercises, and their forces have very different military capabilities.
As reported by TASS, on Thursday SVT TV channel reported that experts from the Swedish Defense Research Institute (FOI) in a new report “Western military capabilities in Northern Europe – 2020”, which provides a systematic analysis of the balance of power between the West and Russia, argue that Russia will have an advantage in the event of a large-scale war in the immediate vicinity of Sweden.
“If there is not enough time for Western defense training, Russia will have a clear advantage in our immediate vicinity, especially on the ground”, – explained Christer Pallin, executive editor of the report.
“This advantage will last for quite some time. At least it will take a couple of months for the US to arrive here with larger ground forces”.
NATO countries do not conduct enough exercises, their forces, despite their advantage in the air and at sea, are geographically dispersed and have very different military capabilities. The Alliance does not need to build up its forces, it must act faster, the FOI believes. Despite the increase in military spending and the approach of NATO’s positions to Russia, there have been no major changes in the balance of forces, Pallin said.
“In general, the picture is very similar both in terms of availability and quality of units. There is an approximate presence that was not there in 2014 and which is gradually improving. And there are simpler measures that can improve the chances of the western side”, – he says.