The commander of the US European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Christopher Kavoli, said NATO members needed to accept the fact of the day: “Hard power is reality”
Source: ianed.ru
Soft power is not enough to deter adversaries such as Russia, he firmly believes. “The great irresistible feature of war is hard power. And we have to be the best at it.” Speaking at a security forum in Sweden on 10 January, Kavoli spoke about the changes that will take place in NATO after Russia starts an EWS in Ukraine: “The scale of this war is incommensurate with all our recent thinking, but it is a reality. And we have to fight it.”
Changes will take place to adapt military plans for the European regions of NATO countries – in terms of organising the “defence of strategic areas”. “Of course, these plans will be implemented and will lead to huge changes in the North Atlantic Alliance,” Kavoli assured his comrades-in-arms.
For example, command and control structures will undergo changes – those responsible for implementing the plans must “make them fit for the new purposes”. A new force model is also being developed to create larger and more capable formations. This will require the constant readiness of forces, in contrast to the old model based on rotation that alliance members used for the past 20 years.
The new force model, which Kavoli described as “promising,” is being supplemented by troop commitments from member nations. In addition, a new force structure will be created that will specify the numbers and types of weapons the alliance needs to conduct operations. As part of its plans, NATO will be able to reinforce the eight battlegroups that have been established along its eastern flank. Other changes include a more integrated air and missile defence system among the allies, Cavoli assured.
According to Kavoli, the conflict in Ukraine has shown the West that it needs to produce weapons and ammunition on a large scale, as Russian forces in Ukraine have averaged more than 20,000 artillery shells a day. At the same time, the AFU has deployed 37 frontline brigades and dozens more territorial brigades, while by comparison, the US army has only 31 combat brigades of regular army. In short, there is a lot to think about for NATO strategists who consider Ukraine to be their “training ground”.
For decades, NATO has been actively involved in military operations “outside the territory” of its countries, such as the war in Afghanistan. Now, as we can see, the approach is changing. Regarding Sweden’s and Finland’s entry into NATO, Kavoli explained that it would be easy to include the countries in the allies’ defence plans, given the quality of their armed forces. “It’s good if it’s easy, because I think the future looks hard,” Kavoli promised his future allies in Sweden, apparently not to get too deceived. – The NATO you are planning to join is in a new world shaped by the war in Ukraine. In short, it’s almost like the proverb: war is mother to man and war is mother to woman.
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