Russia's aggression in Ukraine continues to strengthen military cooperation among NATO countries. Fourteen countries of the Atlantic Alliance, in addition to one of its future members, Finland, led by Germany, today announced an agreement to jointly develop a new anti-missile shield to cover the north of the European continent, fully compatible with existing defense systems. The agreement has been signed on the margins of the meeting of allied defense ministers at the headquarters of the military organization, on the outskirts of Brussels.
"This commitment is even more crucial today, when we see the ruthless and indiscriminate missile attacks from Russia on Ukraine", celebrated the deputy secretary general of the military organization, Mircea Geoana, who stressed that these new equipment "will seriously strengthen our ability to defend the Alliance from all air threats and missile threats.”
Spain is not among the participating allied countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and the United Kingdom). As Minister Margarita Robles explained, the Government knew about the project through Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz. Although he has not received a formal invitation to join, if he did, he would consider it.
"Obviously when the proposal is made, as President Sánchez said, we will study it at the same time it is made," Minister Robles told the press, wanting to make it "very clear" that Spain's commitment to NATO it is "whole and absolute." The four US destroyers housed at the Rota naval base (southern Spain), to which another two are to be incorporated, are a fundamental piece of the Atlantic Alliance's anti-missile system, reports the Efe news agency.
The system chosen for the new shield is perfectly "flexible and scalable" so that countries can strengthen their deterrence and defense efficiently and cost-effectively, the military organization explained in a statement. The objective is to jointly acquire anti-aircraft defense systems that protect the allied territory from missiles in order to obtain better economic conditions. Among the systems that the German government is considering acquiring, it has cited the Arrow 3 system from Israel, the Patriot from the United States and the German IRIS-T units.
These acquisitions are intended to compensate for the lack of investment made in this field by European countries since the end of the cold war. The Patriot and IRIS-T systems cover the middle layer of air defense but there are also plans to buy equipment for the upper layer, such as the Arrow 3 produced by Israel, as well as short-range systems designed to protect smaller areas or convoys. military, for example "We have to fill these gaps quickly, we live in threatening and dangerous times," said German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht.
The German leadership of the project illustrates another turn caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has led the red-green government in Berlin to deliver weapons to Kyiv to defend itself and approve an investment program valued at 100,000 million euros to reinforce the Bundeswehr.
