January 23, the United States begins preparations for military exercises in Europe - DEFENDER-Europe 20. This is stated on the official website of the US Ground Forces.
“The DEFENDER-Europe 20 exercises and related maneuvers are aimed at increasing strategic combat readiness and interoperability by developing the ability of the US Armed Forces to quickly transfer the large and combat-capable contingent and military equipment from the United States to Europe and together with allies and partners to quickly respond to possible crisis situations ", - noted in the message.
Starting on Thursday, the formations involved in the maneuvers will be engaged in the preparation of vehicles, heavy equipment and army equipment for its transportation by rail and sea. All equipment (20 thousand units) will be sent from the Fort Hood, Fort Bliss and Fort Stewart military bases and will arrive in Europe at the end of February.
Preparations for #DefenderEurope 20 will begin Jan 23rd when participating units will begin shipping vehicles and heavy equipment from @forthood, @FortBlissTexas and @USAGStewartHAAF.
Learn more at: https://t.co/U9gomB7CXQ
Photo by Claudia LaMantia@USArmyEuropepic.twitter.com/PgitowXja0
In the upcoming exercises, which, as noted in the US Ground Forces, "will become the largest maneuvers over the past 25 years with the participation of units deployed in the United States," 37 thousand troops of the United States armies and their allies will take part. Of these, 20 thousand Americans will be transferred from North America to Europe.
It is worth noting that in the upcoming maneuvers, the American military contingent will be the most numerous. The second largest group - the British - will amount to only 2.5 thousand people.
Forces and means
According to the US Army website in Europe, although the transfer of equipment and personnel will begin in February, the DEFENDER-Europe 20 exercises will be held in April-May.
They will involve the headquarters of the US Army Division, three combat groups of armored brigades, a field artillery brigade and a rear support brigade. Also planned are the participation of the US Air Force, US Navy and Marine Corps.
In addition, troops arriving in Europe until July will participate in various maneuvers on the continent that are not formally included in DEFENDER-Europe 20.
According to the Bundeswehr website, US troops will land at 14 ports and airfields in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany. Then they will be transferred to Poland and the Baltic states.
The official publication of the American Stars and Stripes aircraft, in turn, draws attention to the fact that part of the deployed American troops will go to the territories of Lithuania and Poland adjacent to the Kaliningrad region. There they will work out actions to protect the Suvalki Corridor - a strip of more than 60 km in length between the Kaliningrad Region and Belarus, where the borders of Lithuania and Poland are also closed.
- American soldiers on exercises in the Baltic
- © Ints Kalnins / Reuters
Also, according to Stars and Stripes, as part of the exercises, the 82nd Airborne Rapid Reaction Force will land in Georgia. The British defense publication Forces Network notes that the landing of the American landing is also planned in Lithuania and Poland. In total, military exercises in ten countries will be worked out as part of the exercises.
“The reason that such a powerful contingent is being transferred precisely to the East of Europe is the desire to give confidence to the American allies, to demonstrate to them that the North Atlantic Alliance is not giving up its obligations and the United States is ready to fulfill its allied duty in case of crisis,” stressed In an interview with RT, Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Political and Military Studies at the Institute of the USA and Canada
According to him, the exercises also demonstrate that European countries are “not producers, but consumers of security” and they are not capable of acting independently in the defense sphere without regard to the Americans.
“This is another reason to show not too loyal NATO allies that the Americans can carry out an operation of any scale if they feel that there are any threats to the North Atlantic Alliance,” military expert Ivan Konovalov said in a conversation with RT.
- Major General Andrew Rawling in the center
- © US Army
Cold war tracing paper
According to Maj. Gen. Andrew Rawling, US Army Deputy Command in Europe, the DEFENDER-Europe 20 exercises are not directed against any particular country.
However, far from all adhere to this opinion in Europe. So, representatives of the anti-war movement in Germany are planning protests. One of the opponents of the exercises, the deputy of the Saxon Landtag from the party of the left, Anthony Merching, said that maneuvers are "a provocation against Russia, forming a false image of the enemy, as well as an inappropriate waste of big money and resources."
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said earlier that American exercises negatively affect security in Europe.
“We do not welcome these exercises, these exercises are the traces of the Cold War,” the Russian diplomat emphasized.
According to Vladimir Batiuk, all the assurances of NATO representatives that DEFENDER-Europe 20 are not directed against Russia are untrue.
“These statements absolutely cannot mislead anyone. Everyone perfectly understands what goals these teachings pursue, ”the political scientist says.
Ivan Konovalov agrees with this assessment.
“It is clear that all this is directed against Russia,” the expert says.
"Routine thing"
Analysts recall that after 2014, the United States and its NATO allies constantly conduct exercises near Russian borders.
Within their framework, the transfer of individual units both within the EU and from the USA to Europe was also practiced. In order to facilitate the movement of troops within the continent, as early as 2018, NATO countries agreed to create a “military Schengen” - a zone in the territory of which military equipment will move without any additional coordination.
“NATO and US exercises in Europe have now become a routine thing. They are held frequently, and their scale is constantly growing, ”says Ivan Konovalov. - As for the upcoming exercises, it is noteworthy that the transfer of a very large number of precisely equipment. This means that possible combat operations with a very serious enemy are being practiced. ”
At the same time, according to him, these exercises have no real relation to ensuring European security, "since there is no one to protect Europeans except from terrorism."
In turn, Vladimir Batyuk notes that the creation of infrastructure for the rapid deployment of NATO troops to Russian borders poses a potential threat to the security of the Russian Federation.
- Practical training for officers of the ground and coastal forces of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation on the development of military operations in the Arctic at the Shary training ground of the Pechenga district of the Murmansk region.
- © Pavel Lvov / RIA News
“There is no immediate threat that maneuvers will develop into hostilities,” the expert said. - However, in order to transfer such a large contingent, it will be necessary to build the appropriate military transport infrastructure. And this will create conditions for the transfer of troops in an emergency, not at all for maneuvers. "
According to the expert, this situation leaves Russia no choice but to "increase vigilance, strengthen defense, and expand its military presence in the western regions of the country, especially in Kaliningrad."
According to Ivan Konovalov, the western borders of Russia are sufficiently fortified.
“He who is warned is armed. Therefore, there is no threat. The necessary measures have been taken for a long time, ”the political scientist concluded.