NATO is responding to Russian aggression in Ukraine by equipping its existing response force with a “spearhead” that could leap into action at very short notice if Moscow threatens similar action against an alliance member.
Once operational, the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force is to consist of 3,000 to 5,000 troops who could deploy within two to three days. It will take several months to set up.
The unit will be tailored to respond to the hybrid warfare that Russia is accused of, including the deployment of anonymous warriors – the so-called little green men seen in Crimea before its annexation.
It will form part of NATO’s Response Force (NRF), a 40,000-strong operation that has largely remained idle since its inception a decade ago. While prompted by events in Ukraine, the “spearhead” force is intended to face off threats from anywhere.
At present, around 13,000 NRF soldiers could deploy within five to 30 days, while it could take up to six months for the full force to launch into action. This is considered too slow to stop military manoeuvres such as those seen by Russia in Crimea earlier this year.
The “spearhead” force will be able to “travel light, but strike hard if needed,” in the words of NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
To prepare the ground, vehicles, weapons, munition and other equipment will be pre-positioned in those countries that most feel exposed to Russian aggression: Poland, Romania and the Baltics.
Three NATO bases are likely to be kept on standby, while infrastructure – such as airfields – also needs modernizing.
The aim of the very high readiness force is to reassure NATO members that the alliance will come to their defence if attacked, while staying within the guidelines of the NATO-Russia Founding Act, agreed in 1997 as a framework for relations between the two sides.
The document stipulates, among other things, that NATO will refrain from “additional permanent stationing of substantial combat forces” in Eastern Europe.
GNA
PDC
