BRUSSELS (AP) – Rejecting charges they are engaging in a Cold War-style arms race with Moscow, the U.S. and its NATO allies approved an array of military upgrades Wednesday that should help them come to the aid of a threatened alliance member faster, with better equipment and more firepower.
“We stand united in the way we are addressing the challenges we face,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.
Meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and counterparts from Canada and NATO’s European member nations ordered an increase in the strength of the alliance’s Response Force, which was 13,000 at the start of 2015, to as many as 40,000.
Also, they added air, sea and special forces units to the force, which includes a highly mobile, multinational “spearhead” brigade of 5,000 ground troops the ministers ordered to be formed in February so NATO can reinforce any alliance member under threat within 48 hours.
Ministers also made it easier and quicker for NATO generals and civilian officials to mobilize the force and bring it into action, Stoltenberg told a news conference. He said NATO will also develop more detailed advance plans to use in the case of crisis, and that a new logistics headquarters will be opened to help NATO forces deploy faster.