NATO needs to transform its war fighting — military chief

NATO has called on public and private actors in the West to prepare for an era in which anything could happen at any time, including fighting a war.

"We need a warfighting transformation of NATO," the chief of the alliance's Military Committee, Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, said on Wednesday as he opened a two-day meeting of national defence chiefs in Brussels.

He noted that in the past, NATO governments and companies lived in an era in which everything was plentiful, foreseeable, controllable, and focused on efficiency.

Since Russia's military offensive against Ukraine in 2022, they should adjust their thinking to "an era in which anything can happen at any time, an era in which we need to expect the unexpected, an era in which we need to focus on effectiveness in order to be fully effective", he said.

His remarks come at a time when military aid is either held up or limited by political wrangling in the United States and the European Union.

Bauer pledged NATO's continued help for Ukraine.

"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.

Insufficient support

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Western hesitation in the backing for Kiev and fears of an escalation in the war with Russia could prolong the fighting by years.

Last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz berated European Union allies over what he called their insufficient support for Kiev and urged them to ramp up their efforts.

At the same time, he said he was confident the bloc would agree its proposed 50 billion-euro ($54.40 billion) aid package for Kiev at an upcoming emergency summit on Feb. 1.

The EU failed to agree on the deal at an EU summit in December due to opposition from Hungary.

Need for large quantities of ammunition

On Monday, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps announced that his government would send 20,000 troops to take part in the NATO military exercises — known as "Steadfast Defender" — with many deployed in eastern Europe from February to June.

The UK will also send advanced fighter jets and surveillance planes, plus warships and submarines.

With ammunition stockpiles diminishing as allies send military materiel to Ukraine, the Norwegian government said on Wednesday it was earmarking $192 million to boost defence industry production capacity, saying there is “a need for large quantities of ammunition.”

Norway’s Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram said that “increasing capacity in the defense industry is important, both for Ukraine, but also to safeguard our own security.”

Half the funds will go to Nammo, a Norway-based aerospace and defence group that specializes in the production of ammunition, rocket engines and space applications, “to increase the production of artillery ammunition,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said.