NATO is ready to attack? 300,000 soldiers on standby

NATO is ready to attack? 300,000 soldiers on standby

As they stated, those plans will be decided at the summit in Vilnius in July.

The goal is better preparedness of the Alliance for an attack and improved logistics.

For the first time since the Cold War, plans are being updated on how to respond in the event of a Russian attack.

"The fundamental difference between crisis management and collective defense is this: it's not you, it's our enemy who decides when," said Admiral Rob Bauer, one of NATO's top military officials.

NATO calls it "regional plans", and as part of them NATO members will be given guidelines.

"Allies will know exactly what forces and capabilities are needed, including what, where and when to deploy," Jens Stoltenberg, head of NATO, commented on the classified documents.

This will formalize a process that began after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, when Western allies sent combat units to the east for the first time, and Britain, Canada and Germany took leading roles in the three Baltic states.

The alliance, experts agree, is no longer preparing for a major attack, but for several smaller, regional crises, which will require forces for rapid deployment.

After all, the cards are significantly different than in the Cold War, given the multiple member states and the accession of Finland. Now that border is also a significant piece of the puzzle, and previously the main potential battleground was Germany.

The big news is the existence of drones, hypersonic weapons and the rapid circulation of information.

There are many challenges - 300,000 soldiers need to be put on standby, from the previous 40,000, and there is also the production of ammunition and weapons, exhausted by the war in Ukraine.