Reuters: NATO needs up to 50 additional brigades to defend against Russia

NATO needs 35 to 50 additional brigades to fully implement its defense plan against Russia. This is a serious challenge for the Alliance, considering that the brigade consists of 3 000-7 000 servicemen.

Reuters writes about this with reference to sources.

Now NATO takes the threat from Russia more seriously, because it started a full-scale war against Ukraine and has been waging it for the third year. To strengthen its defenses, Germany alone would have to quadruple its air defense capabilities.

Currently, it is not known where NATO countries will find 35-50 additional brigades. They can be transferred from other parts of the national armed forces or new soldiers will be recruited there. A combination of both approaches is also likely.

The main priorities of the Alliance were anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense, long-range weapons, material and technical support, and large land-based maneuverable formations.

NATO, after the start of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, discovered the importance of air defense systems for the protection of critical military and civilian infrastructure. In particular, they are especially necessary for Germany, as the main logistics center and bridgehead in any potential conflict with Russia.

During the Cold War, Germany had 36 air defense units with Patriot systems. Germany currently has nine Patriot units. Many NATO allies have reduced the number of air defense units since the end of the Cold War, demonstrating that they will have to deal with only limited missile threats from countries such as Iran in the future. Post-Soviet Russia was not considered such a threat.

This position changed dramatically on February 24, 2022, when a full-scale Russian invasion forced the Allies to begin stockpiling ammunition and addressing deficiencies in the air defense system.