Pentagon Wants To Send Even More Troops And Hardware To Europe To Counter Russia

Scaparrotti Takes Command of Eucom at ‘Pivotal Moment’

Defense Secretary Ash Carter presents the U.S. European Command flag to Eucom’s new commander, Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, during a change of command ceremony in Stuttgart, Germany, May 3, 2016. DoD photo by D. Myles Cullen

The Cable/Foriegn Policy: Exclusive: U.S. Weighs More Troops, Hi-Tech Weapons in Europe to Counter Russia

STUTTGART, Germany — Seeking to stare down any future Russian aggression, the United States is looking to deploy more troops and sophisticated weapons to Europe, the U.S. military’s top officer told Foreign Policy.

Already, the Pentagon has been gearing up to send a third U.S. Army brigade to Eastern Europe, a move prompted by Russia’s 2014 armed intervention in Ukraine. The new deployment will ship a different armored brigade — with about 4,500 troops — to Eastern Europe on nine-month rotations. The rotational brigade will join two other Army brigades permanently stationed in Europe.

Now, as American commanders draw up a budget request for fiscal year 2018, military leaders are looking at deploying even more troops and hardware to Eastern Europe. The funding request also will include investments in space systems, cyber weapons, and ballistic missile defense designed to check a resurgent Russia, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Foreign Policy in an interview.

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WNU Editor: The Cold War is definitely back.