More ruthless prioritization, a laser focus on filling key capability shortfalls and better alignment of national, regional, and NATO plans will allow the alliance to solidify its place as the alliance of choice for decades to come.

“Long-range precision fires… would provide us the capability (to) either, for example, support the Air Force by suppressing enemy air defenses at hundreds upon hundreds of miles or support the Navy by engaging enemy surface ships at great distances as well,” said Army Secretary Mark Esper. But those examples are two distinctly different missions, each most relevant to a different theater of war.

NATO is dusting off Cold War concepts such as deterrence, rapid reinforcement and battle readiness as it faces a Russian destabilization campaign. Our contributor James Kitfield is traveling with Gen. James Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, as the Marine general attends the NATO summit in Warsaw. Kitfield spoke with Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, about the Russian threat… Keep reading →

Fresh from the drama of Brussels, Defense Secretary Mattis visited NATO allies across Europe to preach stability, forward progress, and friendship. He remains a popular figure on the continent, but rumblings from Washington have the NATO alliance concerned.

Most NATO nations don’t pay much. Most nations CAN’T pay much. Most spend on the wrong things. But most of them are moving in the right direction.

Allies from Norway to Romania are buying big-ticket weapons systems produced by the American defense industry, and more NATO countries are inching toward agreed-upon defense spending goals. But is it enough?

“There is a good chance… we’d lose the opening stages of this war,” said one speaker. “Parts of the Pacific, parts of Europe are probably going to be overrun before we can gather ourselves.”

The $250 million package for the rocket launcher along with guided warheads and other tactical missiles was seen as a way for Poland and NATO to push back against the Russian military buildup in neighboring Kaliningrad, which gives Moscow the ability to track and knock down Polish aircraft over Polish airspace.

Will Trump rip a page from the Obama playbook in sending troops to the border with Mexico?

WASHINGTON: After two decades of watching the American share of the NATO budget grow from 50 to 75 percent, the alliance’s leadership is determined to learn how to operate without the usual American help, even as nationalist movements roil the capitals of the transAtlantic alliance and Vladimir Putin hacks his way through democratic elections. Meeting… Keep reading →