NATO to increase high-readiness forces to more than 300,000

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on the eve of the summit of allied leaders being held in Madrid from 28 to 30 June that the alliance would increase its high-readiness forces to over 300,000 troops. (NATO)

Allied leaders meeting in Madrid for the NATO summit being held from 28 to 30 June will agree to increase the alliance's high-readiness forces to strengthen its forward defences, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a press conference on the eve of the meeting.

He expected the summit to be “transformative”, with a new NATO strategic concept that “will make clear that allies consider Russia as the most significant and direct threat to our security”, while addressing “China for the first time and the challenges that Beijing poses to our security, interests, and values”.

Stoltenberg stated that some of the NATO battlegroups in the eastern part of the alliance would be enhanced to the size of brigades, adding, “We will transform the NATO Response Force and increase the number of our high-readiness forces to well over 300,000. We will also boost our ability to reinforce in crisis and conflict, including with more pre-positioned equipment and stockpiles of military supplies, more forward-deployed capabilities like air defence, strengthened command-and-control, and upgraded defence plans with forces pre-assigned to defend specific allies.

“These troops will exercise together with home defence forces and they will become familiar with local terrain, facilities, and our new pre-positioned stocks so that they can respond smoothly and swiftly to any emergency. Together, this constitutes the biggest overhaul of our collective deterrence and defence since the Cold War.”