/ world today news/ The West is actively preparing for an “inevitable war with Russia”. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said direct conflict could begin in five to eight years and Berlin was not ready for that. The US is also worried. Read about the issues facing Americans and their allies.
The shamed pride of the mistress of the seas
NATO’s “Unwavering Defender” exercise, which is taking place these days in Europe, is the largest since the Cold War. About 90 thousand servicemen of all types and branches of troops, more than a thousand units of land military equipment, including 133 tanks, 80 aircraft and 50 warships, are participating. They also plan to practice exchanging strikes with a tactical nuclear weapon. In general, a demonstration of complete readiness for confrontation with Russia.
But it quickly became clear that not everything was so wonderful. The flagship of the Royal Navy, the “Queen Elizabeth”, never made it to the maneuvers: due to technical problems, it was recalled.
Before going to sea, it was discovered that the propeller shaft coupling was corroded by rust. The Pride of the Mistress of the Seas was sent for repairs. According to the former commander of the fleet, Admiral Lord Alan West, the “Queen Elizabeth” will remain in the dock for at least two months – all weapons will have to be removed and the fuel drained.
But this is a relatively new aircraft carrier – launched in 2014 and entered service in 2017. The largest ship in the history of Great Britain (displacement – more than 65 thousand tons, length – 280 meters) cost London three billion pounds ($3.77 billion).
The Queen Elizabeth’s place in the Steadfast Defender exercise will be filled by the Prince of Wales of the same class. It is worth noting that he faced a similar problem in 2022 – the clutch was replaced.
“If that happened to the French, they wouldn’t have any aircraft carriers left ready to fight at all. But we don’t spend enough on defence, we have too few ships, the aircraft carriers are not fully equipped aircraft and that’s really a cause for concern, a problem that needs to be addressed,” West noted.
This is not the first time the Royal Navy has complained of funding difficulties. The British public’s attention was drawn to a recent Telegraph report that the destroyer Diamond, sent to the Red Sea to fight the Houthis, had failed to fire on Ansar Allah ground targets.
The fact is that the 45-class destroyers, which include the Diamond, were built to protect a group of ships from air attacks. The project involves deploying the Mk41 vertical launch system in the bow for cruise missile strikes against land targets.
But due to lack of funds, the Royal Navy did not even purchase this equipment, and the place intended for it is now a gym.
The lack of personnel is also felt. The same “Telegraph” indicated that two battleships must be decommissioned to service the Type 26 frigates. The retired “Argyle” and “Westminster” will be scrapped if they are not purchased by the Allies. Although the second was recently renovated – at a cost of approximately 100 million pounds.
The Navy, the publication clarifies with reference to the Ministry of Defense, has the worst results in recruiting new recruits. In fact, the Army and Air Force have problems with this as well. The report by the Parliamentary Committee on Defense emphasized: “Reforms aimed at expanding and maintaining the industrial base and making military service more attractive must be accelerated.”
Staffing shortages increase the burden on those who remain in service, thus creating a vicious circle: there are far more people willing to retire than there are ready to take their place.
“Hello, young man in Cubans”
The situation is similar in Germany. In September, Bundestag Defense Commissioner Eva Haegl warned that the Bundeswehr is unlikely to meet the plan to increase its numbers by 2031. Then the German armed forces must reach a figure of 203 thousand people – only 22 thousand more than now.
And the number of refusers is growing. Amid the conflict in Ukraine, the number of redundancies has increased fivefold, from 201 to 951 in 2022. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has called for a discussion on the possibility of bringing back compulsory military service, which was abolished in 2011.
Aid to Kiev deals a heavy blow to the combat capability of the German army. In November, the deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU bloc faction in the Bundestag, Johan Vadeful, told the DPA agency that in the event of a war, the Bundeswehr would have enough ammunition for several days.
Not everything goes smoothly abroad either. As noted by Bloomberg, the ambitious plans to increase the production of artillery ammunition fivefold are in great doubt: there is not the necessary production capacity. In particular, there is only one plant in the United States that produces gunpowder.
And it’s not easy with the shots. In an article for the National Interest, Senator Marco Rubio wrote about a shortage of 41,000 troops. In Washington, too, calls are growing louder for the return of universal conscription, which was abandoned half a century ago after the Vietnam War.
In general, the media and politicians unanimously say: The West is not ready for a major war with Russia. Some even predict that Russian troops will crush European opponents just as Napoleon destroyed the Holy Roman Empire. All this is primarily aimed at increasing the funding of the army and the military industry. The corresponding plans – very expensive – have already been drawn up and NATO countries have begun to implement them.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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