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Only on AP: NATO surveillance flight watches Russia and Ukraine - Lufkin Daily News

Bulgaria will invest in infrastructure that will help, if necessary, deploy NATO forces on the eastern flank but can also be used for civilian needs, Defense Minister Todor Tagarev announced on Monday.

Currently, the multinational NATO battle group under Italian command is on Bulgarian territory, consisting of approximately 1,000 military personnel. The plans are to expand the contingent to 1,500 and build a military base for NATO needs in southern Bulgaria, allowing a brigade to be formed.

The deployment of a multinational NATO battle group on our territory has been discussed dozens or hundreds of times. During my visit to the United States (last week), we talked about how best to provide the necessary infrastructure as a host country and how the United States can help us so we can use available international co-financing funds for its construction, Tagarev told bTV.

Bulgaria has a bilateral agreement with the US for the joint use of four Bulgarian military bases.

The investment of 6 billion is unrelated to the defence budget and will be used for road and railway infrastructure to help rapidly deploy military formations when needed, said Tagarev.

The minister spoke of new roads and railways with the capacity to ensure rapid deployment of allied troops, as well as oil pipelines, gas pipelines, and new warehouses.

We are working on all these issues, not only within the competence of the Ministry of Defence, Todor Tagarev explained.

According to the minister, there are plans for all battle groups from the countries of the eastern flank of NATO to grow to brigade battle groups that is, up to about 5,000 people. This will happen when needed, we dont have a clear timetable at the moment. We have to be ready to provide the conditions when it happens, he said.

Over the past few years, Bulgaria has made relatively large investments in its military in an attempt to replace old Soviet equipment. The country bought new F-16 Block 70 fighter jets for $2.4 billion, 200 US Stryker infantry fighting vehicles for $1.1 billion and is building two new patrol ships.

Tagarev explained that Bulgaria will become a regional centre for repairing and maintaining Stryker combat vehicles.

Other projects include strengthening the coast guard, building new military radars, and even buying submarines.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)

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KARLSKRONA, Sweden Theyve been on the drawing board for more than a decade, but in the heart of a vast assembly hall in a shipyard on the Baltic Sea coast, Swedens two new A26 attack submarinesare finally coming together.

Set for launch in 2027 and 2028, the 66-meter-long diesel-electric subs, named Blekinge and Skne after two Swedish counties, are designed to patrol NATOs eastern reaches under the Baltic Sea, tracking and countering Moscows maritime moves amid ever worsening relations between Russia and Europe.

The two are Swedens first new subs to be built since the mid-1990s and will join four older vessels in the Nordic states fleet.

We have a long history of building submarines, said Mats Wicksell, the head of Kockums, a business area of Swedish military equipment manufacturer Saab which is building the A26s. But this is still a big step forward for us.

The looming Swedish launches underscore a nascent subsea renewal in Northern Europe, where the Norwegian navy recently ordered four new submarines from Germanys ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). The Netherlands has received bids from TKMS, Saab Kockums and Frances Naval Group to build four submarines, while Denmark, which disposed of its fleet in 2004, recently suggested itmightreverse that move.

This expansion will partially bridge the gap to NATOs biggest European fleets, which are set for slight growth this decade, according to a report by Swedens Defense Research Agency. Six new French Barracuda class submarines are entering service and two further Type 212 subs will join an existing German fleet of six. The U.K.s fleet of Astute class submarines will total seven by the end of the decade and the Italian Todaro class submarines eight.

The European upgrades come amid a Russian PR drive about additions to its own fleet. In December, President Vladimir Putin posed on the dockside at Russias White Sea submarine production hub at Severodvinsk alongside two new vessels, the Krasnoyarsk and Emperor Alexander the Third.

The Russian navy will have 50 submarines in 2030, according to the Swedish report.

The U.S. submarine fleet is set to shrink slightly in numerical terms to 57 by 2030, but the continued introduction of the new Virginia class will serve to maintain and even widen America's technological advantage over its rivals during the same period, the Swedish report said.

Visited on a recent weekday, the Saab shipyard in the southern Swedish naval town of Karlskrona was humming with activity.

The partially built Blekinge was shrouded in scaffolding, while metal workers prepared further steel hull sections for highly skilled welders to later stitch together into a whole capable of withstanding blasts from mines and impact with the seabed. In another area, electricians threaded seemingly endless reams of wiring into high-tech interiors.

For Sweden, the long delayed new submarines they were initially supposed to enter service in 2018 and 2019 will be a shot in the arm in a rapidly deteriorating security environment.

Sweden has seenincursionsby an unidentified submarine in its territorial waters as well as explosions crippling the Russian-built Nord Stream natural gas pipelines in its maritime exclusive economic zone in 2022 and the severing of a subsea communications cable linkto Estoniain 2023.

Sweden reinstated conscription and remilitarized its strategically placed Baltic Sea of Gotland in the wake of Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014. Since the Kremlins full scale attack on Ukraine in 2022, it has boosted defense spending by 30 percent between 2023 and 2024 and applied to join NATO.

In early January, the Swedish government and the head of its armytoldcitizens to prepare themselves for war.

Theplan tolaunch the A26s has been a key pillar in Stockholms claim that it cancontributeto NATOs military strength,and isnt applying to join the alliance solely to benefit from its mutual defense guarantees.

Since the accession to NATO of the Baltic States in 2004 and Finland last April, the alliance has faced a headache over how to protect maritime supply lines to those states and restrict access to Russia in the event of conflict with the Kremlin.

Carl Gyhlenius, a Swedish former submarine commander and now a planner for the countrys navy, said he felt that NATO was getting a missing jigsaw piece with Sweden's NATO accession delayed by foot-dragging from Turkey and Hungary.

The Baltic Sea is hard to deal with if you don't have the necessary experience, and the fact that another country is joining NATO which has this as its backyard, with that regional expertise, that should ease operational problems, Gyhlenius said.

The Baltic is widely seen as a tricky operating environment because its varying salt levels affect sonar. It is also shallow and heavily trafficked, which increases collision risk.

On a recent visit to Stockholm, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg praised Swedens defense industry saying it offered advanced technology across a range of branches addingthat the NATO accession of the Nordic statewill be a big advantagefor the alliance as it seeks to maintainits technological edgeoveritsrivals.

Swedens first submarine, called the Shark, was launched in 1904, and over the decades that followed the Swedish navyexpanded its underwater capabilities as part of its broader effort to mount a credible national defense as a neutral state betweenEast andWest.

Toward the end of the last century,Swedish engineers achieved a technical breakthrough with a system called air independent propulsion (AIP) which allowed Swedish submarines to operate for longer periods without surfacing, aiding their ability to evade detection.

Following the end of the Cold War, Sweden cut back on defense spending and its submarine program was largely on hold foradecade until 2010, when Defense Minister Sten Tolgfors announced a plan to build the A26.

Through this significant renewal, we are ensuring that the Swedish submarine fleet will continue to maintain the highest international class, he said. Modern submarines represent a significant obstacle to any actor who wants to use the Baltic Sea for anything other than peaceful shipping.

In the years since, the A26 project has been criticized for delays and cost overruns.

But its defenders say the wait and extra cost will be justified by the delivery of vessels tailor-made for Baltic Sea conditions at a time when control of that waterway is geopolitically vital.

In its promotional material, Saab notes that the dimensions of the A26 as well as its updated AIP system and new sonar-defeating hull design make it ideally suited to the Baltic.

It also has a new modular design, which will allow obsolete technology to be replaced with new systems more easily and a new portal toward the front of the boat will also allow easier interaction between the crew inside the vessel and divers or unmanned vessels operating outside, Saab says.

Kockums chief Wicksell said the A26 represents value for money because its combination of stealth and advanced weapons systems can help ward off foes and reduce the risk of a costly future conflict.

If I know there is something out there but I dont know where it is and I cant defend myself against it, that is a deterrent, he said.

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Sweden seeks to tighten NATO's grip in Baltic Sea with 2 new submarines - POLITICO Europe

The UK is planning to send 20,000 military personnel to participate in a large-scale NATO training exercise that will take place across Europe in the first half of this year, news agency Reuters reported on Jan. 15.

Read also: UK weighing contingency to deploy forces to Ukraine if Russia greatly escalates war

Britain will send military personnel, ships and aircraft to Europe as part of NATO Steadfast Defender 24, aimed at practicing the defense of its eastern flank.

The deployment includes 16,000 British Army personnel based in Eastern Europe from February to June, and an aircraft carrier strike group. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II and reconnaissance aircraft will also be involved.

"I can announce today that UK will be sending some 20,000 personnel to take part in one of NATO's largest deployments since the end of the Cold War," said UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps.

The military will join forces with colleagues from 30 NATO countries and Sweden, providing a crucial deterrent against the threat from Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Shapps added.

Read also: UK, Ukraine sign 10-year security deal

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Britain to send 20,000 troops to NATO training - Yahoo News

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova characterized a recent article in German newspaper Bild as last year's horoscope for Pisces in Cancer, in a Telegram post on Jan. 15.

The article alleges that Bild obtained a secret document from the German military that details how a conflict between Russia and NATO might arise, with events unfolding month by month. The culmination involves deployment of hundreds of thousands of NATO soldiers and the start of war in the summer of 2025.

No aspect of this alleged document has been confirmed by either official or independent sources.

Read also:

KSF experts assess Ukraine's EU and NATO prospects in 2024

NATO to hold a meeting on Russias recent wave of missile attacks on Ukrainian cities

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Russian Foreign Ministry dismisses Bild claims that Russia is preparing for war with NATO - Yahoo News

Latvian Foreign Minister Krijnis Kari, who has joined the race to become NATO's next secretary-general, thinks the job should go to someone from a country that walks the talk on defense spending.

Latvia is investing "about 2.4 percent of our GDP into defense this year, and we're heading up to 3 percent in the next three years," Kari told POLITICO's Power Play podcast.

"We sort of put our money where our mouths are," the foreign minister added. "Which is important, I think, for any secretary-general to be able to speak to those members who are not yet doing it."

Several European leaders have expressed interest in taking over as head of the military alliance after NATO's current chief, Jens Stoltenberg, announced he would step down at the end of his term, which was extended until October.

Aside from Kari, Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who could become the alliance's first female boss, and the Netherlands' outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte have also said they are interested in the job.

While Rutte is considered to be the front-runner, he has faced criticism over his country's failure to meet the alliance's defense spending target, set at 2 percent of each country's gross domestic product. Estonia's spending has surpassed that mark since 2015, according to NATO. Latvia has contributed more than 2 percent of its GDP to defense since 2018.

Aside from the role of NATO chief, the race for top jobs in the European Union has otherwise already started in Brussels, after European Council President Charles Michel announced he would run in the European election in June.

If elected, Michel would take office in July, meaning that EU leaders would have to rush through what are usually lengthy negotiations to find his replacement.

Otherwise, they risk having Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbn who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin step in to temporarily chair the meetings between EU leaders as his country takes on the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU on July 1.

Kari said Michel's announcement took him "a little bit by surprise," and added it was "very difficult to imagine how an agreement could be taken before the elections."

If he doesn't get the NATO job, Kari who is a former member of the European Parliament said he would not rule out coming back to the European capital. Although he would seek to do so as an EU commissioner instead.

"Politics is a fickle business ... I can certainly close no doors today," Kari said.

"Who knows what tomorrow will bring," he concluded.

Original post:

NATO top job should go to country that pays up on defense, Latvian FM says - POLITICO Europe

The UK is to deploy 20,000 troops and lead a NATO exercise that is designed to deter Vladimir Putin from threatening countries in Europe, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has said.He told GB News: This will be the biggest deployments of UK troops to NATO for about 40 years.This is an operation which is designed to essentially allow NATO to test our approach in what isa much more dangerous world, given the conflicts in Europe, conflicts in the Middle East, but also the sort of intent of people like Putin to really disrupt the world order and our way of life, and so we'll be leading that NATO exercise which will be about 40,000 people overall.In a discussion during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, he continued: We've seen what Putin is capable of, we know that he's walked into a democratic neighbour in Ukraine and caused mayhem.And sometimes it's tempting to think, well, what's this got to do with us, but we saw last year, didnt we, with that enormous spike in energy prices and the incredible cost to households here.What happens over there really does matter here as well and we know that Putin has the intent so this very large military exercise involving 30 countries - 31, because it involves Sweden who are not yet in NATO - is designed to make sure that we are ready and we've tested our approach to anything that Putin might throw our way or anyone else in the future.Asked about polling indicating that the Tories are heading for 1997-style defeat at the next General Election, he said: While we have a plan that we're working to and that plan has started as see inflation really plummeting, the economy growing, we've seen tax cuts which now in January have come through and are worth about 450 pounds for somebody on the average salary.And I hope we can do more in that direction. In other words, we have a plan. It's working and it's starting to work.We'd be going right back to square one if we got Keir Starmer and Labour in now.WATCH ABOVE.

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UK to send 20000 troops in biggest NATO deployment in 40 years, says defence secretary - The Derby Informer

[Hellenic National Defense General Staff]

Greek Captain Fotis Paraskevas took over the command duties of the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Maritime Group Two (SNMCMG2) with the handover ceremony taking place at the Naval Base La Spezia in Italy on Friday, as was announced by the Hellenic National Defense General Staff on Monday.

Italian Captain Ettore Ronco transferred the responsibilities to Captain Paraskevas aboard the General Support Ship HERACLES on Friday. The event was attended by NATO Rear Admiral Stefan D. Pauly.

Greeces involvement in SNMCMG2, one of NATOs two permanently activated naval forces for mine countermeasure operations, enhances its role in ensuring maritime safety, particularly in the Mediterranean region.

SNMCMG2 provides NATO with immediate operational response capability, specifically as part of the NATO Response Force (NRF), during periods of peace, crisis and tension. Command rotation occurs semi-annually among participating states.

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Greece assumes command of permanent NATO naval force - Kathimerini English Edition

Europe has between three and five years to prepare a resurgent Russian military as a serious threat to NATO's eastern flank, including Estonia's eastern border, Kaja Kallas told British daily The Times.

"Our intelligence estimates it to be three to five years, and that very much depends on how we manage our unity and keep our posture regarding Ukraine," the prime minister told The Times.

"What Russia wants is a pause, and this pause is to gather its resources and strength. Weakness provokes aggressors, so weakness provokes Russia," she added.

Kallas conceded that it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain NATO unity, with signs of war fatigue present in several western nations, and the possibility of Donald Trump returning as U.S president, which would undermine NATP deterrence, the paper wrote.

"It's becoming harder [to maintain unity] all the time because the topics are getting harder as well," Kallas added.

"We are all democracies, and in democracies you have domestic problems that kick in and the war has been going on for some time so that it sort of becomes wallpaper," the prime minister continued, adding that it is nonetheless the obligation of leaders to continued to explain why Ukraine must be supported and must triumph, for the sake of all of Europe's security.

In the longer term, NATO needs to to adopt a Cold War-style "containment" strategy towards Russia, Kallas added, with defense spending of 2.5 per cent of GDP per year as a baseline minimum for western nations.

A report by the Foreign Intelligence Service (Vlisluureamet) which Kallas had cited says Moscow regarded Estonia as among the most vulnerable parts of the NATO alliance and thus the most likely location for any potential attack.

This is the case even with Russia's losses in its invasion of Ukraine so far estimated at up to 300,000 casualties, while irredentism and never having had to take responsibility for past atrocities being among the driving forces of Russian aggression.

The rest of the interview deals with a recent spate of disruption to GPS navigation across the southern Baltic Sea, which Kallas has said was likely conducted or at least caused by Russia Kallas was the first NATO leader to suggest this, shortfalls in relation to NATO capabilities LINK, and different theorized windows of time which Russia might require to rebuild its military fully after the Ukraine war.

As noted Kallas put this time-frame at around five years, while other estimates have put the figure at up to nine years.

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Russia likely to menace NATO Eastern Flank in 'three to five years,' Kallas tells UK daily - ERR News

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has responded to a leaked German plan for how the country would respond to a Russian hybrid assault on NATOs eastern flank, which it suggests might occur in July 2024.

Source: Maria Zakharova on Telegram

Details: German tabloid Bild has leaked the details of what it claims to be a secret memo by the German Defence Ministry that outlines a possible "path to conflict" between Russia and NATO. The memo outlines Russias actions and the Wests response month by month, with Russia expected to launch hybrid assaults on European countries in the summer of 2024 and to start a full-scale war in the summer of 2025.

The memo envisions that Russia could use clashes in the Baltic states as a pretext to deploy troops and medium-range missile systems to Kaliningrad and could invade NATO countries during the US presidential elections.

The German Defence Ministrys Alliance Defence 2025 plan is allegedly set to be put in place in February 2024, as Germany considers it possible that Russia might launch a new offensive in Ukraine in the spring.

Quote from Zakharova: "I read Germanys secret plan that was leaked to Bild, an information gutter. Its like a mighty horoscope from last year for Pisces in Cancer. I suppose that the analysis was undertaken by the German Foreign Ministry headed by [Annalena] Baerbock."

Previously: Russian officials denied Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine ahead of the full-scale invasion. For the past two years, Russia has referred to its war against Ukraine as a "special military operation". It also denies it intends to launch an attack on NATO, but NATO countries are still preparing for a possible Russian invasion on NATOs eastern flank.

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Russian official compares media claims that NATO is preparing for Russian offensive to "last year's horoscope" - Yahoo News

The bi-annual winter wargamepreviously known as Cold Response has changed its name to Nordic Response. While Norway used to be a lonely NATO member above the European Arctic Circle, Finland and soon Sweden are now in the team of allied countries protecting shared freedom and democratic values.

About 20,000 soldiers will participate when the exercise kicks off in March.

British soldiers are already heading north, the Royal Navy informs.

Camp Viking, some 65 km south of Troms, serves as hub for the British soldiers winter training.

The UK Commando Force remains the partner of choice for our Norwegian counterparts, and increasingly to new NATO member Finland along with Sweden, whose Special Operations Forces and Coastal Rangers will be working with the Royal Marines, says Spokesperson for the Commando Force, Major Ric Cole.

Together, and with US and Dutch involvement, we seek to develop a potent force capable of Defending NATOs Arctic flank, he says.

About 1,000 British troopers will be at Camp Viking. Those already in place face freezing training in temperatures down to minus 25 degrees Celsius, honing their survival skills.

The Brits will also fly in helicopters like the Apache fighting aircraft first tested in Arctic Norway back in 2019.

Against the backdrop of Russias invasion of Ukraine, Norway and European neighbors have raised concerns about Putins Arctic rearmament. Before Putin ordered full-scale war, NATO membership was not on the agenda neither in Helsinki or Stockholm.

A core element duringNordic Response is to train cross-border defense and movement of military hardware between the northernmost parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Air forces will be active with about 100 aircraft. Outside the coast of northern Norway, over 50 submarines, frigates, corvettes, aircraft carriers, and various amphibious vessels will be active, the Norwegian Armed Forces informs.

14 countries take part in Nordic Response with a total of about 20,000 soldiers. Unlike previous NATO exercises in northern Norway, core areas of operations are moved north to the Alta, Lakselv area, with corresponding sailings by warships off the coast of Finnmark.

Although still hundreds of kilometers from the border with Russias Kola Peninsula, the signaling effect to Moscow is not to be mistaken.

Excerpt from:

British troops deploy to northern Norway ahead of huge NATO Arctic exercise - The Independent Barents Observer

16 January 2024, 06:59 | Updated: 16 January 2024, 07:04

Vladimir Putin will do the unthinkable if he feels Nato are unprepared, a former commander of US forces in Europe has warned.

Ben Hodges, who was commander of the US army in Europe between 2014 and 2018, said another world war would only happen if Russia felt Nato was not prepared or united.

He said plans leaked from the German Ministry of Defence may seem "scary" but it shows the threat is being taken "seriously".

The documents, which emerged on Monday, show how Nato could respond to World War Three, with a step-by-step plan showing how the West would resist aggression launched by Putin.

"[Russia] only respect strength. If they sense any weakness then they will continue to move forward," Mr Hodges said, according to the Mail.

"If they did it, it would be because they made the assessment that we were not ready or unified inside the alliance or that we did not have adequate ammunition or the ability to move fast enough.

"But if we are prepared, they still have a long way to go."

Read more: Cyber attacks, riots and lies: Leaked documents show step-by-step plan for how Putin could trigger World War Three

Read more: UK to send hundreds of air defence missiles to Ukraine as Sunak condemns Putin's revenge attack

Mr Hodges went on to say the best way to prevent a war is to "be prepared for it".

"The UK has always been aware of the threat from Russia but now Germany are realising that this is something thats only going to get worse if theyre not prepared," he said.

"So readiness - with all the right equipment and capabilities - is exactly what nations should be doing. And Germany is doing that."

The ex-commander added: "If the civilian leadership doesnt think theres a threat, they wont be able to move quickly enough. Our leaders should talk to us like adults.

"It doesnt mean you're a scaremongerer, it means you're taking precaution, which is exactly what we should be doing."

The "Alliance Defence 2025" plans are not an early warning of how events will go - but a hypothetical scenario for decision-makers to consider.

The scenario looks at Russia mobilising 200,000 more men as its forces are bogged down in Ukraine.

Putin uses them to launch a spring offensive, winning the war in June in a nightmare scenario for Europe.

Hybrid attacks are then launched on the West, before Russia builds up forces on the border with Nato countries Poland and Lithuania.

After stirring up tensions in the Baltics, Nato deploys 300,000 soldiers east on "Day X" as they stare down Russian forces over the Suwalki gap, the region between Moscow's satellite Belarus and its Kaliningrad enclave.

A spokesperson for the ministry said: "Basically, I can tell you that considering different scenarios, even if they are extremely unlikely, is part of everyday military business, especially in training."

Link:

Putin will only trigger World War Three if he feels Nato are unprepared, ex-commander of US forces in Europe warns - LBC

Grant Shapps discusses the biggest deployment of troops to Nato for 40 years.The Defence Secretary spoke to GB News as the UK prepares to send 20,000 troops in one of Natos largest military exercises since the Cold War.The alliance is practicing repelling an invasion by Russian President Vladimir Putins forces.This is a an operation which is designed to essentially allow NATO to test our approach in what is a much more dangerous world given the conflicts in Europe, the conflicts in the Middle East, but also the sort of intent of people like Putin to really disrupt the world order on our way of life, Shapps told Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster.Some 16,000 troops with tanks, artillery and helicopters will be deployed from the British Army across eastern Europe starting next month as part of the exercise.The Royal Navy will deploy more than 2,000 sailors across eight warships and submarines, while more than 400 Royal Marines Commandos will be sent to the Arctic Circle.

Originally posted here:

Grant Shapps heralds 'biggest deployment of troops to Nato for 40 years' - Grand Junction Daily Sentinel