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  4.  » Nato braced for all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years: Top defence chief issues starkest warning yet and says civilians and governments must brace for cataclysmic conflicts and potential conscription

Gina Kalsi and Chris Jewers – Daily Mail.com Jan 19, 2023

A top defence chief has revealed that NATO forces are bracing for an all-out war with Russia in the next two decades.

Admiral Rob Bauer (below right), the chairman of NATO’s Military Committee urged both civilians and governments to prepare for cataclysmic conflicts and the chilling prospect of being conscripted.

‘We have to realise it’s not a given that we are in peace. And that’s why we [NATO forces] have the plans, that’s why we are preparing for a conflict with Russia,’ Bauer told reporters after a meeting of NATO defence chiefs in Brussels.

‘But the discussion is much wider. It is also the industrial base and also the people that have to understand they play a role.’

In a stark warning, he said civilians must be ready for a conflict in the next 20 years that would require wholesale change in their lives.

Bauer said large numbers of civilians will need to be mobilised in case a global war breaks out and governments must make sure their nations are ‘war ready’.

‘We need public and private actors to change their mindset for an era in which everything was plannable, foreseeable, controllable and focused on efficiency to an era in which anything can happen at any time. An era in which we need to expect the unexpected,’ Bauer warned.

The senior Dutch military boss added: ‘You need to be able to fall back on an industrial base that is able to produce weapons and ammunition fast enough to be able to continue a conflict if you are in it.’

Adm Bauer also praised Sweden for urging all of its citizens to brace for war ahead of the nation joining NATO. The move has seen a surge in volunteers for Sweden’s civil defence organisation.

This comes as NATO is planning to mobilise 90,000 troops in its largest military manoeuvre since the Cold War, with the war games aimed at deterring Vladimir Putin from targeting a member country.

The alliance announced the exercise would begin next week, with the months of drills aimed at showing the alliance can defend all of its territory up to its border with Russia.

The exercises – dubbed ‘Steadfast Defender’ – will run until late May and involve units from all 31 NATO member countries plus candidate-member Sweden, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, US General Christopher Cavoli, said.

The wargames are meant as a fresh show of strength from NATO and its commitment to defend all allied nations from attack.

‘The Alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area by a transatlantic movement of forces from North America,’ Cavoli told reporters in Brussels after a two-day meeting of national chiefs of defence.

Bauer said the scale of the exercise was a demonstration of the alliance’s new readiness.

‘That is a record number of troops that we can bring to bear and have an exercise within that size, across the alliance, across the ocean, from the US to Europe,’ he said.

It was announced last week the UK would be sending 20,000 troops with the Royal Navy’s two new aircraft carriers, eight warships, as well as the RAF‘s F-35 lightning attack aircraft, which will practice flying in imitated conflict scenario.

UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps announced the deployment on Monday.

The war games come after UK ministers announced a further £2.5billion support package to Ukraine and the RAF airstrikes, with the US, on the Houthis in Yemen.

According to German newspaper Bild, Germany will send 12,000 soldiers along with 3,000 vehicles and 30 aircraft.

Russian marines. Click to enlarge

Citing the German Press Agency, Bild said the exercise will simulate a Russian attack on NATO territory, a scenario which would trigger Article 5. The article states that if any NATO country is attacked, all other alliance countries will mobilise to defend it.

Earlier this week, at a meeting of the 31-nation alliance’s top brass in Brussels, Adm Bauer, also said that behind Russian president Putin’s rationale for the war is a fear of democracy.

Adm Bauer said NATO would continue to support Ukraine long-term.

‘Today is the 693rd day of what Russia thought would be a three-day war. Ukraine will have our support for every day that is to come because the outcome of this war will determine the fate of the world,’ he said.

‘This war has never been about any real security threat to Russia coming from either Ukraine or NATO,’ Adm Bauer added.

‘This war is about Russia fearing something much more powerful than any physical weapon on earth – democracy. If people in Ukraine can have democratic rights, then people in Russia will soon crave them too.’

The largest NATO exercise since the cold war took place in 2018 when around 51,000 troops were involved in ‘Trident Juncture 2018’ in Norway.

Announcement of the NATO exercise comes after it was revealed that Germany is preparing for Putin‘s forces to attack NATO in 2025.

 

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