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The US is planning to withdraw access to deep strike capabilities for NATO allies as part of its wider plan to pull out of Europe’s security architecture.
The Trump administration informed NATO allies last year it would cut military assets available to Europe even during times of war or invasion, but until now, the details of exactly how the Pentagon intends to scale back access to such assets were unclear.
According to sources, everything linked to deep strike capabilities will be cut, Euronews has learned. Specifically, this includes US long-range bombers such as the B2 and B-52. Naval assets, including missile-launching submarine and aircraft carriers, will also be withdrawn and re-directed to other theatres.
According to reporting from the New York Times, the US is also planning on reducing the number of F-16 and F-15E fighter jets available to NATO from roughly 150 to 100 and maritime reconnaissance aircraft from 26 to 15, as well as withdrawing all eight aerial refuelling tanker jets previously available to Europe.
The significant changes to US commitments are being undertaken within NATO’s so-called Force Model system, which allows allies and military planners identify troops and capabilities available to NATO operations based on deterrence and threat assessment.
Confirming its plans, the US European Command said in a statement last week that it would “right size” its contributions to the NATO Force Model.
‘Paper tiger’
While senior NATO personnel have been planning for the downsizing of US assets available for Europe for several months, senior officials have publicly downplayed the implications, arguing that European allies are now contributing far more to the continent’s deterrence and will be able to compensate for gap left by the US.
“We know that adjustments will take place, the US has to pivot toward, for example, Asia,” Rutte told journalists last month.
However, the lastest announcement comes at a particularly difficult moment in US-NATO relations.
US President Donald Trump is still fuming at European allies’ refusal to join in the US and Israel’s war in Iran, issuing warnings that he will “remember” how countries such as Spain, Italy and France refused to allow US planes headed for Iran to use their airspace and bases on their territory.
“The solution would be to open the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on social media in March, complaining allies “don’t want to help” and warning that “Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!”
“COWARDS,” he concluded. “We will REMEMBER!”
Since then, a coalition of NATO allies and other countries including South Korea and Australia have been formulating a strategy to reopen the strait once hostilities come to an end, with several countries sending frigates and personnel to the region for pre-positioning ahead of the war’s end – though it remains unclear when that might come.