The new Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, believes that U.S. President Donald Trump intends to reassess his country’s commitments to NATO. Reports TSN. This was reported by Kontrakty.UA.
This is stated by military analyst David Axe in an article for The Telegraph.
According to him, this possibility concerns European leaders and could have implications for the alliance. Merz stated that he plans to strengthen Europe as soon as possible to make it independent from the U.S. French President Emmanuel Macron, during an official visit to Washington the day after the German elections, expressed support for this approach, emphasizing that Europe needs to achieve "strategic autonomy."
A project of this scale would cost hundreds of billions of dollars and would require significant sacrifices from Europeans, who are accustomed to the advantages of an alliance with a stable and democratic America. However, in a situation where the U.S. has lost stability and its leader seems to lean towards autocracy, such a project is undoubtedly worth the resources invested.
It is noted that Europe possesses a sufficient amount of military equipment, such as fighter jets, helicopters, frigates, landing ships, aircraft carriers, and submarines, which enables it to match or even surpass Russia's military potential. However, the key issue is the lack of "enablers"—specialized forces that conduct complex and dangerous operations, ensuring the effectiveness of the overall military strategy.
Axe points out that Europe is experiencing a shortage of manned and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, as well as manned refuelers. ISR aircraft help identify targets for fighter attacks and other combat units. Refuelers extend the operational range of fighters, allowing them to operate over greater distances.
The analyst notes that the situation in space and the electromagnetic spectrum is even worse. The U.S. owns 5,200 out of 7,500 large satellites in the world, including reconnaissance, communication, and critical navigation systems like GPS. China has about 600 satellites, Russia around 200, while all other countries, including European space powers, have only 1,600.
According to Axe, the Joe Biden administration has provided the Ukrainian Air Force with jamming equipment and anti-radiation missiles. To match the level of Ukrainian defense capabilities and come closer to American standards, European air forces need to significantly enhance the modernization of their fighters to combat Russian anti-aircraft missile systems.
He explains that after successfully completing their missions, European SEAD and DEAD forces will enable fighters to deliver powerful strikes against key targets in Russian military infrastructure. However, this is only possible if there is a sufficient number of reconnaissance aircraft, satellites, and refuelers. To achieve strategic autonomy, Europe urgently needs to ramp up the production of specialized aerial and space vehicles.
Recall that we previously reported that U.S. President Donald Trump disagrees with claims that one day Russia will fight NATO.