Thursday, October 6, 2016

Could The U.S. Military Stop A Russian invasion Of The Baltics

This is a map of how a US military think tank believes Russia could overrun NATO to take the Baltic States in just 36-60 hours. Even with a week's notice, NATO's 12-strong fleet would be no match against Putin's 27. Daily Mail

Kris Osborn, National Interest: Would Russia Attack & Invade the Baltics? (And Could America's Military Stop Them?)

The current NATO force structure in Eastern Europe would be unable to withstand a Russian invasion into neighboring Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, a new think tank study has concluded.

After conducting an exhaustive series of wargames wherein “red” (Russian) and “blue” (NATO) forces engaged in a wide range of war scenarios over the Baltic states, a Rand Corporation study called “Reinforcing Deterrence on NATO’s Eastern Flank” determined that a successful NATO defense of the region would require a much larger air-ground force than what is currently deployed.

In particular, the study calls for a NATO strategy similar to the Cold War era’s “AirLand Battle” doctrine from the 1980s. During this time, the U.S. Army stationed at least several hundred thousand troops in Europe as a strategy to deter a potential Russian invasion. Officials with U.S. Army Europe tell Scout Warrior that there are currenty 30,000 U.S. Army soldiers in Europe.

The Rand study maintains that, without a deterrent the size of at least seven brigades, fires and air support protecting Eastern Europe, that Russia cold overrun the Baltic states as quickly as in 60 hours.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: There is no appetite in the U.S. to deploy tens of thousands of troops to Europe .... and there is definitely no money for it. Fortunately .... there is no appetite in Russia to invade and occupy the Baltics. Also .... most Russians know that the blow-back will not be via through NATO and the U.S. military .... it will be the imposition massive sanctions (that will probably last for years), and political isolation .... something that a massive majority of Russians do not want.

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