Following today’s news (24 February) that Russia has launched a multipronged invasion of Ukraine;

Daniel Morris, Lead Defense Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“Defense spending among many European nations has always fallen short of the desired 2% of GDP that was outlined in the 2006 NATO summit. Only those members that share a border with Russia, as well as the US, UK, France, Greece and Romania, have met or exceeded this requirement. In some instances, this has only been due to clever accounting.

“The US has consistently willed its European allies to make defense spending more of a priority. This is especially true for Germany, who currently spend only 1.53% of GDP on defense. Germany has always been cautious in its defense spending due to its history and its reluctance is starting to be felt within the Army. Alfons Mais, chief of the German Army, in a rare outburst expressed his extreme distress at the current state of the Germany armed forces.

“Many of NATOs big hitters are facing the expensive task of modernising land and air capabilities to face a near-peer threat. Two decades of the ‘War on Terror’ and counter insurgency operations have left many NATO armies using outdated technology. For example, the British Army is still using the FV432 as its main armored troop transport, a system that was developed in the 1960s.

“NATO has ordered its commanders to intensify preparations in order to defend allied territories on its eastern flank, and more NATO troops and equipment are to be sent to the east to stem any further Russian aggression.”