Russia is advancing in key military technology areas and shows no deceleration in efforts to destabilize the West, said the commander for U.S. forces in Europe. Photo: Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, head of U.S. European Command
By Patrick Tucker, Technology Editor, Defense1, Mar 8, 2018. The Russian military may surpass U.S. military capability in Europe by 2025, Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, head of U.S. European Command, told lawmakers on Thursday. He emphasized that keeping up EUCOM’s modernization was key to keeping up and maintaining superiority. “Given their modernization, the pace that it’s on … we have to maintain our modernization that we’ve set out so that we can remain dominant in the areas that we are dominant today,” said Scaparrotti. “If we were not to do that, I think that their pace would put us certainly challenged in a military domain in almost every perspective by, say, 2025.” Last month, EUCOM requested $6.5 billion for its key program in the region, the European Deterrence Initiative, which bolsters air, sea, and land forces across the continent. That’s $2 billion more than requested in fiscal 2018. EUCOM leaders said it reflected the need to “deter aggression and malign influence in Europe by increasing our air, sea and land force responsiveness, and expanding interoperability with multi-national forces.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has been eager to show off of new and eye-catching capabilities in hypersonic weapons. Analysts have also noted a decade of Russian prowess in electronic and cyber warfare, as displayed from Ukraine to Syria. Scaparrotti’s warning comes on the heels of a new report from RAND, which notes a growing “imbalance” of U.S. and European forces in Eastern Europe. “Improvements in Russia’s military forces over the last decade have reduced the once-gaping qualitative and technological gaps between Russia and NATO. These improvements come while Russia is expanding its forces in the West, maintaining more high-readiness forces, and gaining valuable combat experience in Ukraine and Syria,” the unclassified version of the report says. […] http://www.defenseone.com/threats/201 ... ?oref=defenseone_today_nl
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