Details of US Cuts to NATO Forces Revealed: Air, Naval, and Drone Assets All Reduced

(Central News Agency, Brussels, 4th, Combined Foreign Reports) The United States plans to significantly reduce the air and naval forces allocated to NATO. According to a leaked list, there will be substantial cuts to fighter jets, aerial tankers, and surface and underwater vessels. Additionally, plans to deploy Tomahawk missiles in Germany are expected to be canceled, drawing concern from European allies.

The British Financial Times, citing informed sources, reported that the US has recently presented details of a plan to allies to reduce the size of US forces assigned to the NATO Response Force. The NATO Response Force mechanism can deploy and respond within 10 days of a crisis.

The German newspaper Die Welt late on the 3rd disclosed a leaked document listing the forces Washington plans to withdraw. The US plan includes reducing the number of RC-135 tanker aircraft provided to NATO from 71 to 63, and completely removing 8 more advanced KC-46 tanker aircraft from NATO forces.

The Pentagon is also reducing the number of F-16 fighter jets provided to NATO from 99 to 63, and F-15E fighter jets from 54 to 36. All existing long-range reconnaissance drones will be withdrawn from NATO, and the number of MQ-9 attack drones will be nearly halved.

The US will also withdraw one of its two aircraft carrier strike groups stationed in Europe, nearly halve the number of cruisers and destroyers, and withdraw all submarines capable of launching cruise missiles. This will significantly limit NATO's naval capability to launch cruise missiles.

Additionally, 11 P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine warfare aircraft will be decommissioned, leaving only 15 with NATO. One of the two US bomber squadrons currently stationed in Europe will also be withdrawn.

The Financial Times noted that these cuts come as US President Donald Trump continues to push for a reduction in the size of US forces stationed in Europe. In recent weeks, Washington has announced the withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany. The upcoming NATO annual summit in Ankara, Turkey, is expected to focus on how to shift the military burden to European allies.

Furthermore, POLITICO reported that the Pentagon is expected to cancel plans to deploy Tomahawk cruise missiles to Germany, partly because officials fear Russia would view this as an escalation.

The report, citing two European officials and one US official, said Washington fears Moscow could retaliate if it continues to push forward with the plan, conceived during the Biden administration, to deploy missiles in the heart of Europe. However, this move is undoubtedly another new example of the US pulling back from NATO and gradually changing decades of close transatlantic military cooperation.

The US considerations include Russia's reaction and concerns about depleted weapons stockpiles. In the first few weeks of the war with Iran, the US expended thousands of Tomahawk and Patriot missiles. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told Congress last month that replenishing these munitions could take "months or even years."

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told German public television last month that Germany formally applied to the US to acquire Tomahawk missiles a year and a half ago. "We are still waiting for an answer. Frankly, given the current world situation, I don't have much hope for it anymore," he said.

According to the German Defense Ministry, when Pistorius visited the US in July last year and met with Hegseth, he expressed interest in purchasing the US "Typhon" ground-based missile launch system, which can launch Tomahawk missiles from land. However, there has been no progress on this matter. (Editor: Chen Yiwei) 1150605