[…] Despite that, Russian conventional forces continue to face “significant limitations,” as “years of neglect have atrophied much of its force-projection capabilities,” Wheelbarger said during a speech at The Atlantic Council. […]
Outside of Syria, the Trump administration is deeply concerned by the growing relationship between Moscow and Turkey, expressed most concretely in Turkey’s plans to buy the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system. The deal is threatening Turkey’s role in the F-35 program, and underscores Russia’s ability to get inside US relationships with foreign countries, including efforts to split the NATO alliance without firing a shot.
“Let’s be clear: the S-400 is a Russian system designed to try to shoot down aircraft like the F-35” Wheelbarger said, calling the deal a “monumental challenge for us.” The deal, which both Russian and Turkish officials say is wrapped up, “would be devastating — not only to the F-35 program on which the West has placed its modernized integrated air capability — but it would rupture Turkish interoperability with NATO, which is a key aspect to the defense of the alliance.”[…]
As NATO continues to search for new ways to counter Russian malign influence throughout Europe and the Arctic, the alliance is putting the final touches on its first new military strategy since the Cold War, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford said this week.
He said the plan, which is classified, was approved by US and European military chiefs last week and is being sent to each NATO capital for approval, which will likely take some time.
“It is the first NATO military strategy in decades,” Dunford said at the Brookings Institution. “It clearly articulates the challenges that confront NATO and it provides the framework for the various plans that will be in place if deterrence fails,” he added. Läs artikel