Despite Russia's catastrophic casualty rate—as many as 1,000 soldiers per day—amid its war of aggression in Ukraine, its threat to Europe remains robust and demands a concerted NATO response, the commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa said Oct. 15.

Speaking at the Association of the U.S. Army's Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C., Gen. Darryl Williams said Army Europe and Africa and its NATO partners are rising to the challenge, with unprecedented exercises and training, and goals to develop common communication pathways and warfighting protocols.

Swedish Army Commander Gen. Jonny Lindfors, who spoke with Williams on a panel, described how one of the newest NATO allies is already taking steps to meet the demand.

The country is working to double the size of its selective service-driven military by 2030 and raise defense spending to 2.5%–3% of gross domestic product by next year, Lindfors said. The Swedish military, he said, is also taking a new approach to defense as an ally rather than an independent player, working to defend the Baltic states more holistically and develop NATO-aligned practices. 

There are gaps: "I cannot take a Norwegian grenade and put it into a Swedish tube before qualifying and sorting out the ballistics," he said. "The nitty-gritty details matter."

For Willams, the big picture is a Russian adversary on pace to recruit 360,000 fighters this year, and a strong NATO alliance is a top priority. "The U.S. cannot do it alone," he said.

With the recent completion in September of the Avenger Triad suite of exercises, which Williams described as "arguably the biggest exercise we've done since the '80s," the Army is embarking on a joint training and exercise plan "like it's never been before," he said. Next year, he said, the Nordic nations, which include new NATO partners Sweden and Finland, will conduct joint forcible entry exercises in northern Europe. 

Challenges, though, still surround aligning command and control and communication around movement and fires. Lindfors cited a need for common communication pathways among land forces akin to the Link 16 and Link 22 networks used by NATO air forces. Williams called these competencies "nascent" and emphasized the importance of aligning around the Army's concept of multidomain operations and common modes of targeting and fires.

"That is sort of the common language that we are trying to develop," he said. "That kind of capacity, where any shooter can shoot for any nation, and vice versa."

He emphasized that, even with transformation and convergence in process, Army Europe and Africa and its European allies are ready now to meet and defend against any threat or incursion from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"He's going to get a fist sandwich in his mouth," Williams said. "He will find a very viable force ready to defend and defeat him there. He'll find someone that's ready to go."

— Hope Hodge Seck for AUSA