NATO confirms plans for US military storage in Poland
NATO on 23 March 2019 confirmed it plans a storage facility for US military equipment in Poland, as the alliance steps up its defences in the face of increased Russian assertiveness. The Wall Street Journal reported that the $260 million facility will be located in Powidz, some 200 km (120 miles) west of Warsaw, and will house armoured vehicles, ammunition and weapons for a brigade.
Building work will start later this year and is expected to take two years, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg told the Journal. A NATO official confirmed the report was accurate.
NATO has increased defences along its eastern flank in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea and its role in the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Battlegroups have been deployed in the three Baltic states as well as Poland and NATO has launched an overhaul of its command structure and is taking steps to improve how quickly it can move troops and equipment around Europe in case of incursion. The practice of ‘pre-positioning’ equipment in strategic locations is also aimed at making it easier to deploy resources quickly in a crisis.
Stoltenberg told the Journal the new facility would ‘underpin the increased US presence in Poland’. Poland's government has been beefing up its military ties with the US, agreeing in February to buy American mobile rocket launchers worth $414 million and a year ago signing a $4.75 billion contract for a US-made Patriot anti-missile system.
Warsaw has also been pushing for the US to open a permanent military base. Nearly 5,000 American troops are already stationed on a rotational basis as part of NATO operations.
More from Defence Notes
-
![Top-level commitments but no meat in UK Defence Industrial Strategy’s Statement of Intent]()
Top-level commitments but no meat in UK Defence Industrial Strategy’s Statement of Intent
The initial document focused more on creating the right partnerships and inspiring investment in defence than on any details of how future UK Armed Forces would be armed.
-
![UK begins process on new industrial strategy]()
UK begins process on new industrial strategy
The first stage of developing a new UK Defence Industrial Strategy has highlighted failings in current structures with solutions expected to be proposed in next year’s full strategy.
-
![Romanians put pro-Russian candidate into presidential runoff even as the government spends west]()
Romanians put pro-Russian candidate into presidential runoff even as the government spends west
Romania joined NATO more than two decades ago and the country is vital to the alliance’s geographic reach and its ability to supply Ukraine with weapons.
-
![What the future holds for Ukraine and NATO under a Trump administration]()
What the future holds for Ukraine and NATO under a Trump administration
Although Trump’s geopolitics policy for Europe remains unclear, defence analysts from the US and Europe predict how his incoming administration would attempt to handle critical issues on the continent.
-
![RUSI deputy: UK needs longer procurement plans and improved awareness of US sift to Indo-Pacific]()
RUSI deputy: UK needs longer procurement plans and improved awareness of US sift to Indo-Pacific
The UK budget announced in Parliament on 30 October was the first by a Labour government in 14 years which has also launched a review into defence procurement programmes.
