European Nato allies to jointly buy planes; Nato to up naval presence in Black Sea

Brussels (Reuters):  European Nato allies agreed yesterday to jointly buy planes and submarines and possibly open a new command headquarters for elite troops as Europe seeks to show the United States it is serious about its own security.
In signing ceremonies at Nato, defence ministers from France and Germany said they will buy Lockheed Martin C-130J transport planes, while Germany, Belgium and Norway will join a Netherlands-led fleet of Airbus A330 tanker planes.
“This multinational cooperation through Nato is a clear way for countries to significantly improve their armed forces while ensuring the greatest value for money for their taxpayers,” said Rose Gottemoeller, Nato’s deputy secretary general.
The letters of intent, although not legally binding, are the latest sign that European allies are starting to end years of competing national strategies that have left Europe reliant on the United States to provide basics such as refuelling combat planes in the air.
New US Defence Secretary James Mattis warned Nato allies on Wednesday they must pay more towards their own defences or potentially see less support from Washington.
Duplication is also a problem, with EU militaries owning 19 types of armoured infantry fighting vehicles, compared with one in the United States, while wasted funds amount to 25 billion euros a year, according to European Commission data.
As part of a broader push to revitalise European defence cooperation in the wake of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the rise of Islamic militancy on Europe’s borders, France agreed to allow Belgian and Dutch jets to fly into its airspace in the case of a conflict with a foreign threat.
That means a Belgian jet pursuing an enemy plane would no longer have to turn back at the French border.
Ambitions also involve a new command centre for Dutch, Belgian and Danish special forces that could be used by other Nato nations and which many countries outside the main European military powers of Britain, France and Germany do not have.
The location of the new headquarters has not been decided, a Nato official said.
Other plans include Norway and Germany buying a new class of submarines, known as U212As, that more effectively detect, track and fire at enemy submarines and ships on the water.
Germany also agreed to join a European multinational fleet of Airbus tankers that is led by the Netherlands and already includes Luxembourg.
Germany also agreed joint training and deployments of land forces with the Czech Republic and Romania, with both countries set to provide a brigade of several thousand troops for a larger division under German leadership.
Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said allies faced a “more demanding and challenging security environment” that the alliance needed to respond to. “This is a way to make what we do more efficient, and increase output,” he said of the agreements signed.

Nato to up naval presence in Black Sea

Brussels (AFP):  Nato will step up naval war games and surveillance in the Black Sea to complement its increased land and air force presence near a more assertive Russia, the alliance said yesterday.
Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg insisted the decision taken by alliance defence ministers in Brussels was not designed to be a provocation at a time of heightened tensions with Russia, which annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
“We agreed on... an increased Nato naval presence in the Black Sea for enhanced training, exercises and situational awareness,” the Nato chief said adddressing a press conference.
A Nato official said on condition of anonymity the decision was taken to deal with Russia’s military buildup in the Black Sea and bolster alliance’s southeastern flank after it sent troop reinforcements to Baltic States and Poland in the northeast.
The official said the goal was to boost intelligence gathering, such as on Russian ground-to-air missiles in the region.
“We will have an increased presence in the Black Sea but it will be measured, it will be defensive and it will in no way be provoking any conflict or escalating tensions,” Stoltenberg said.
“It is one element in a broader adaptation of Nato defence and deterrence to a more demanding and challenging security environment, including the Black Sea region,” he added.
Nato allies Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania share Black Sea littoral, as do partner countries Ukraine and Georgia, both of which have direct territorial disputes with Moscow.
The Nato official said it took the alliance some nine months since the Warsaw summit to iron out the agreement, partly because Bulgaria did not want to be seen to be provoking Moscow.
The source said the littoral states were also wary of the other’s own military presence in the Black Sea, where they have had disputes over fishing rights and other issues.
The official said the alliance also plans soon to step up air patrols over the Black Sea.