The Telegraph: NATO's speed of response to threat depends on rail infrastructure
Kyiv • UNN
NATO's ability to rapidly deploy up to 500,000 troops to its eastern borders in response to Russian aggression depends on overcoming obstacles such as bureaucracy and fragile rail infrastructure, especially in Germany.
When France deployed its military forces to lead NATO's new battlegroup in Romania, its tanks were loaded on trains and ready to be transported across the continent, but they were held up at the German border due to paperwork problems. Since then, French officials have often reminded the alliance that its credibility is determined by its ability to respond quickly to threats. This was reported by The Telegraph, according to UNN .
Details
This view is also supported by NATO's top leadership, which realizes that they will be in a race to deploy up to 500,000 troops to the alliance's eastern borders at the first sign of Russian aggression.
We are trying to convey to the Russians that we see their actions. The task is to prevent a crisis and to provide our political leaders with alternatives other than the need to conduct a liberation campaign in Lithuania or Romania
Since last year's summit in Vilnius, NATO has been preparing 300,000 troops for high readiness and building up its security forces to ensure they have everything they need to defend the alliance.
Railroads play a key role in this logistics: rail lines are the fastest and most efficient way to transport large quantities of military equipment and vehicles between countries without blocking roads.
But the movement of troops across Europe faces obstacles in the form of complex bureaucracy and unstable infrastructure, with Germany acting as a major obstacle on both routes.
After the end of the Cold War, we completely rebuilt our armed forces and largely abandoned everything that had been planned and practiced during the Cold War
But now that the threat of war is at Europe's door, changes are taking place.
Regional defense plans have been developed that allow for the rapid deployment of up to 100 brigades (up to 500,000 people) to defensive positions to prevent a crisis.
The first 100,000 people will be redeployed to NATO's eastern border within the first ten days.
The second echelon of troops will arrive with reinforcements within the first month, and the third level of forces will be mobilized within the first six months.
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