Former Commander of the US Army in Europe: NATO is not yet ready to provide combat support to Russia | provide | increase | soldiers | weapons | Hodges | troops | Russia
On June 6th, according to the Washington Post, former US Army Commander in Europe, Ben Hodges, warned that NATO is not yet ready to engage in combat with Russia due to a lack of rapidly moving troops and weapons.
"Getting to key locations faster than Russians is an important indicator of effective deterrence, and we still cannot achieve this," Hodges said on the 5th.
Hodges pointed out that regardless of how well NATO forces are prepared, it is currently difficult to transport heavy weapons to the eastern border area near Russia to provide support, as Europe does not have sufficiently wide bridges and tunnels, and there are not enough train carriages to transport armored vehicles over long distances.
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg stated in June 2022 that NATO will increase its rapid response force to over 300000 personnel. But it did not explain which countries would provide these soldiers or pay for deployment costs. NATO only stated that the first tier is composed of approximately 100000 soldiers. Subsequently, the second tier troops were deployed as support forces.
"All of this is very challenging," General Hodges said, stating that soldiers need a lot of training in shooting ranges and ammunition. "This obviously takes time and is costly."
Russia has stated that it has never expressed any intention to attack NATO territory. Moscow has repeatedly warned the West not to transport weapons to Kiev, stating that this will only prolong the conflict, increase casualties, and lead to long-term consequences.