Putin’s military might could overrun NATO forces in 60 hours

The alarming claim comes as Russia has deployed troops westward as part of its ongoing stand-off with NATO.

US Deputy assistant secretary of defence for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia Michael Carpenter

told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that the West and NATO were currently not ideally prepared to deal with a Russian threat.

He said Russia had a massive geographical and time advantage but by 2017 the US would be in a better position to defend its allies.

The warning over increasing Russian aggression comes just four months after non-profit global policy think tank RAND raised “concerns about its larger intentions” and speculated Russian forces could reach those areas in 60 hours.

NATO forces are increasingly concerned about Russia’s intentions in the Baltics. Picture: Alexei DruzhninSource:AFP

It warned NATO cannot successfully defend the territory of its most exposed members, the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

It did however suggest it was possible to avoid a rapid overrun of the Baltic States with a force of seven brigades.

This would include three heavy armoured brigades backed by airpower along with land-based support.

Senator Cory Gardner asked Mr Carpenter if the RAND warning made last February was still accurate and if NATO is prepared to deal with the threat.

“I’m confident by the end of 2017, when we have an additional armoured brigade combat team worth of force posture on the eastern flank of the alliance, that we will be,” he said.

Paratroopers from the US 82nd Airborne Division walk to their positions after conducting a multinational jump with British and Polish soldiers to a designated drop zone near Torun, Poland. Picture: Alik Keplicz/APSource:AP

TENSIONS RISE

NATO is taking part in a war games exercise in Poland intended to shore up security on the alliance’s eastern flank.

The 10-day exercises come as member states have been spooked by Russia’s increasingly assertive actions.

Nineteen NATO member nations and five partner nations are contributing troops to the exercise that will train and test their swift joint reaction to threats on land, sea and in the air.

The exercises are certain to increase tensions between the two sides with Russia deploying its troops westward, Reuters reported.

The move is part of an increasing military build up in the region with Russia also building an army base near its border with Ukraine.

Russia is continuing to build up its forces along its western frontiers while NATO conducts its exercises on the east.

The coalition’s head of the exercise, US Lt Gen Benjamin Hodges, said the exercise represented the commitment of the participating countries to “stability and security in Europe.”

“We want as many to see what we are doing as possible so that they won’t be nervous,” he said.

Russia considers the presence of NATO troops close to its border as a security threat.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said earlier this week that the military exercise in Poland “does not contribute to the atmosphere of trust and security on the continent.”

Poland and other nations in the region, as well as NATO leaders, argue that any military presence or exercises are purely defensive and deterrent measures.

US troops land with parachutes at the military compound near Torun, central Poland. Picture: Janek Skarzynski/AFPSource:AFP

The drill is being held just weeks before NATO holds a crucial summit in Warsaw expected to decide that significant numbers of NATO troops and equipment will be based in Poland and in the Baltic States.

Created in 1949, the US-led NATO alliance is considered to be a way of countering the military might of the Soviet Union, and preventing the rebirth of the militant nationalism that had led to Europe’s two world wars.

Credit to news.com.au

http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/russia-vs-nato-putins-military-might-could-overrun-nato-forces-in-60-hours-defense-official-warns/news-story/abcacd7437387f2b8baf2d44820548f1