NATO's military might has been called into question. And here's why

Ukraine has become a testing ground for weapons for the West, but during the conflict it turned out that NATO's military might is not indisputable. How Western weapons have proved themselves, what difficulties NATO is facing and what lessons it will have to learn from the Ukrainian conflict — in the Izvestia article.

NATO is outdated

• The Ukrainian conflict has shown that NATO's tactics of warfare do not correspond to real combat operations. The alliance's military potential relies on expensive weapons systems and a technical advantage. But, as the conflict in Ukraine has shown, relatively inexpensive FPV drones play a much greater role on the front, which the alliance countries cannot quickly reproduce.

The integrated air defense system, which NATO countries considered their achievement, lasted only about a year in Ukraine and showed vulnerability to Russian attacks. The high-precision HIMARS and ATACMS complexes have also shown a limited advantage on the battlefield, and the military-industrial complex of the alliance countries is unable to ensure the uninterrupted release of ammunition.

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The West views the conflict in Ukraine as a laboratory of modern warfare

• During the Ukrainian conflict, not only NATO ground weapons, but also the European fleet have shown their vulnerability. Great Britain, considered one of the world's maritime powers, is armed with a destroyer, two frigates, and an attack submarine to protect maritime borders. The rest of the ships are in dry docks or under repair. While Russia has managed, even under the conditions of sanctions, to significantly increase the production of military vessels and re-equip its fleet.

Inadequate expenses

For a long time, the West relied on the most expensive and modern weapons. But the conflict in Ukraine has shown that expensive systems are destroyed by inexpensive drones, and cheap and disposable weapons in large quantities are much more effective for combat.

• NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has already announced that the alliance is reviewing its approaches to warfare and rejecting perfection in favor of speed and acceptable quality of weapons. But to implement this plan, it will require the re-equipment of the military-industrial complex of Western countries, which is often represented by private companies and does not obey government directives.

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• Defense companies may resist changing the current system. Now the issue of which weapons will be adopted by NATO countries is being decided by arms lobbyists. The new decrees of the President of the United States Donald Trump favor giving preference to commercially profitable solutions and the speed of purchases, rather than tested samples.

Problems with financing

• In May, NATO announced plans to increase contributions from alliance member countries to 5% of GDP by 2032, with direct military spending of 3.5% and related spending such as infrastructure and cybersecurity spending expected to reach 1.5% of GDP. So far, even the United States has not reached this figure, which allocates 3.2% of GDP, providing 64% of the alliance's expenses.

• According to the results of last year, only Poland, Estonia and Lithuania were able to beat the United States. 22 out of 32 NATO countries have brought defense spending to the target 2% of GDP. But major economies such as Italy, Spain, Canada and Belgium failed to achieve this result and promised to increase the defense budget in 2025.

• An increase in defense spending to 4% of GDP will force NATO countries to increase their public debt, which may lead to inflation within states, increased debt servicing costs and fiscal burden on the population. According to the calculations of the European Commission, the rearmament of the European Union countries will require 800 billion euros, including 150 billion euros in loans. This amount is twice the total defense spending of the EU in 2024.

• In order to regain its military might, NATO will need reforms and a review of arms spending. So far, the alliance is unable not only to produce a sufficient number of military equipment and weapons, but also to provide the necessary amount of repairs to existing systems.