NATO troops during an exercise. AP photo
Britain is deploying 20,000 troops to take part in Operation Resolute Guard 2024, which begins next week and will continue until the end of May.
NATO’s top commander, General Christopher Cavoli, said the exercise will demonstrate the alliance’s ability to quickly “consolidate” its territory in the event of an attack.
The exercises will take place in Germany, Poland and the Baltic countries, which are said to simulate war with Russia.
The militaries of all 31 NATO members and Sweden, a candidate for membership, are participating.
Meanwhile, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has predicted a global conflict between the West and Russia, China, Iran and North Korea will occur within the next five years. Shapps has called on Britain’s allies to increase military spending to deal with this so-called “existential threat”.
In his first speech as defense secretary on Monday, Shapps described the UK as a world-leading military power, citing a record defense budget of £50 billion (63 billion pounds). billion), recent airstrikes on Houthi forces in Yemen and Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) military aid package for Ukraine last week .
Shapps vowed that he would further increase British military spending and that he would “use our influence to ensure other allies and friends… match our commitments”.
He said: “In the next five years, we could be looking at many battlefields (conflicts) including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Ask yourself, look at today’s conflicts around the world.” world, is that number increasing or decreasing? I suspect we all know the answer. It is likely to grow, so 2024 must mark a turning point.”
Shapps said the UK spends more than 2% of GDP on defense and aims to increase this to 2.5%. NATO requires its members to spend more than 2%, but only a third of the 31 members actually meet this requirement, according to a report the bloc released last summer.
Shapps is not the first senior UK figure to predict that the country will soon be involved in a large-scale war. British Chief of the General Staff, General Patrick Sanders, declared in 2022 that “there is now an urgent need to build an army capable of fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia.” on the battlefield” and must be prepared to “fight in Europe again”.
However, Britain’s allies doubted Britain’s ability to fight. Early last year, a senior US general told Sunak that Washington considered Britain “only a second-tier military power”, closer in stature to Germany or Italy than “first-tier” powers such as the US, Russia, and China. Country or France, Sky News reported.
The US general who spoke to Sky News estimated that it would take Britain five to 10 years to build a new combat division of 25,000 to 30,000 troops supported by tanks, artillery and helicopters.
Speaking to reporters after his speech, Mr. Shapps did not elaborate on how potential conflicts with Russia, China, Iran and North Korea might develop. He said that “the whole purpose of today’s speech is to ensure that all of NATO actually shares that burden” by increasing military spending.