Back to news

June 22, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR

Why the head of NATO says there’s ‘no guarantee’ that the trans-Atlantic alliance will survive

By:

LONDON — The bonds between Europe and North America are under strain and there's no guarantee the trans-Atlantic partnership will survive, the head of NATO warned Thursday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called for an effort to shore up the military alliance amid the divisions between Europe and the United States over trade, climate change and the Iran nuclear deal.

“It is not written in stone that the trans-Atlantic bond will survive forever,” Stoltenberg said during a speech in London. “But I believe we will preserve it.”

NATO has been shaken by U.S. President Donald Trump's “America First” stance and mistrust of international institutions. Trump once called NATO obsolete and has repeatedly berated other members of the 29-nation alliance of failing to spend enough on defense.

Ahead of a NATO summit in July, Stoltenberg said “we may have seen the weakening” of some bonds between North America and Europe. But he insisted that “maintaining the trans-Atlantic partnership is in our strategic interests.”

Stoltenberg said the world faced “the most unpredictable security environment in a generation” due to terrorism, proliferating weapons of mass destruction, cyberattacks and an assertive Russia.

“We must continue to protect our multilateral institutions like NATO, and we must continue to stand up for the international rules-based order,” he said.

After meeting Prime Minister Theresa May in Downing St., Stoltenberg praised Britain, one of a minority of NATO countries to meet a target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense.

He said that despite differences between the U.S. and Europe, NATO delivered “trans-Atlantic unity” every day.

“We have had differences before, and the lesson of history is that we overcome these differences every time,” Stoltenberg said.

Some European officials worry the Trump administration is cool on efforts to hold Russia to account for misdeeds including election meddling and the nerve-agent poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in England, which the U.K. blames on Moscow.

At a G-7 summit this month, Trump suggested that Russia should be readmitted to the group of industrial powers, from which it was expelled over its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Some U.S. allies are concerned by reports that Trump plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin when the American leader travels to Europe for the NATO summit next month.

But Stoltenberg said meeting Putin does not contradict NATO policies.

“We are in favor of dialogue with Russia,” he said. “We don't want a new cold war. We don't want a new arms race. We don't want to isolate Russia.”

https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2018/06/21/why-the-head-of-nato-says-theres-no-guarantee-that-the-trans-atlantic-alliance-will-survive/

On the same subject

  • Rafael pitches naval capabilities to counter ‘asymmetric power projection’

    October 27, 2020 | International, Naval, C4ISR

    Rafael pitches naval capabilities to counter ‘asymmetric power projection’

    Seth J. Frantzman JERUSLAEM — Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is presenting a number of technologies during the Euronaval conference meant to counter “asymmetric power projection” at sea. The Israeli company is making its pitch to navies during the European maritime trade show, which is being held virtually this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ran Tavor, vice president of Rafael's naval systems business and a former Israeli Navy officer, said the company's offerings are divided by offensive and defensive purposes. For the former, it is offering naval versions of the Spike ER and NLOS missiles with increased range. The missiles are typically used by ground forces and on helicopters. The NLOS version can reach up to 32 kilometers, and the ER variant can reach up to 10 kilometers. The company says they can operate in GPS-denied environments and penetrate areas defended by electronic warfare systems. The weapons are equipped with electro-optical target automatic recognition as well as artificial intelligence to make them more lethal and precise. The Spike naval system is mounted with a launcher that has multiple cannisters for different systems in the missile family. “You don't need to be too close to the enemy, and this capability allows [it] to launch ship to ship and ship to shore," Tavor said, "and basically it is [a] relatively small footprint due to size and weight, and you can leverage a fast patrol boat to [become] a missile boat, so we change the way the fast patrol boat is used.” The missile systems are operational, but Rafael, like most Israeli defense companies, does not disclose where they have been sold outside of Israel. Rafael is also pitching its Typhoon naval remote weapon station that could be used to counter drones. The company says the platform is aided by multispectral sensors. The system fires 30mm rounds, which can prove ineffective against small drone targets at a distance that might have cross-sections of about 1 foot. Rafael has increased the weapon's magazine to 400 rounds to give it more firepower. Rafael is also showing off its C-GEM rocket decoy and fourth-generation Torbuster decoy for torpedo threats as another example of defensive technology. Tavor said the key to defense at sea is not any one item, but tailored solutions for navies that are part of an integrated, multilayered system involving a variety of sensors, algorithms and artificial intelligence to reduce the necessity for “man-in-the-loop” technology. “You need to detect, classify and engage to deal with a single threat, and if there is multiple-layer threats you are limited with [in terms of] line of sight and you have a big challenge — so here we come into play with all capabilities of detecting and classification and automatic tracking and automatic engagement,” he added The company reports that it has done business with 34 navies, including those of the U.S. and Australia, but doesn't identify other customers. http://https://www.c4isrnet.com/industry/2020/10/23/rafael-pitches-naval-capabilities-to-counter-asymmetric-power-projection/

  • BAE Systems signs US Army deal for M777 gun structures

    January 6, 2024 | International, Aerospace

    BAE Systems signs US Army deal for M777 gun structures

  • Hezbollah says it’s using new weapons in battles with Israeli troops

    November 12, 2023 | International, Land

    Hezbollah says it’s using new weapons in battles with Israeli troops

    The group has been sending unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance drones into northern Israel, some of which were shot down.

All news