Ukraine in Arabic | Adrian Bradshaw : Alliance should beef up its maritime arm in response against Russia
Kiev/ Ukraine in Arabic/ NATO commanders say the Alliance should beef up its maritime arm in response to the rising threat from an increasingly "bold" and "aggressive" Russia.
"The Russian Federation is shadowing and presumably collecting intelligence from NATO nation naval units in the Baltic, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, using methods that can be considered bold and sometimes aggressive," he said.
The 28-member defense alliance's naval forces have in recent years focused on issues such as counterterrorism and piracy, but speakers at a London conference said the group needed to prepare more to counter Russian military ambitions.
"Russian international maritime presence has grown significantly in recent years, specifically since the Ukraine crisis erupted in 2014," senior NATO commander Gen. Adrian Bradshaw told a conference in London on NATO's naval future.
One area that NATO will focus on is how to better project maritime force on land using amphibious units and air power, said British Vice Admiral Peter Hudson.
