Sentry Staff
European militaries are working to strengthen their force levels to meet emerging security threats, defense leaders said at a summit in Prague.
Defense officials, senior military officers, diplomats and analysts from Europe and the United States gathered in November 2024 at the inaugural Prague Defence Summit, hosted by the global think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
“The Ukraine war has demonstrated the painful realities of attrition warfare. It has also shown to us that many European forces are still understaffed and unable to meet the required readiness levels,” Dr. Ben Schreer, executive director of IISS-Europe and director of technology and future conflict of IISS said during a plenary session. “We are all in agreement that European nations need to grow their forces, make them more resilient and sustainable. They must also grow and maintain their equipment stockpiles, including through enhanced cooperation with the United States. And they must build more resilient forces anchored in equally resilient societies.”
Leaders said they are taking a multifaceted approach to building resilience, addressing issues surrounding personnel, weapons supply chains, cybersecurity and information warfare.
“We need to be preparing for the large-scale high-intensity armed conflict with a technologically advanced adversary who possesses nuclear weapons. That is a task that is very, very different from what we had before,” said Lt. Gen. Karel Řehka, chief of general staff, Czech Armed Forces. He said the Czech government is working toward a whole-of-government approach to better prepare for conflicts and defend against hybrid warfare. “We have got this hybrid warfare campaign in Europe that is very obvious from Russia. And why that is concerning is because all the defense is about will. It is about [the] will to defend and [the] will to fight. And that is exactly where they are targeting us,” he said. “They are targeting society to weaken the will, undermine the unity and spread fear, and also distrust of the people towards the institutions.”
France’s government is improving munitions stockpiles by mandating French manufacturers set aside portions of raw materials to produce military equipment, said Gen. Vincent Giraud, vice chief of defense, French Armed Forces. The military is also working to improve personnel training and retention and investing in artificial intelligence. “The key of the defense architecture relies on nuclear deterrence,” he said. “That is the reason why France has launched a program of the renewal of its two components — its submarines as well as its ballistic missiles, and also for the air component, especially air missiles.”
Sweden has long prioritized a whole-government approach to defense, said Johan Berggren, state secretary to the Minister for Civil Defence. “This encompasses the protection of the civilian population, obviously, ensuring the continuity of vital societal functions and supporting, and this is very important, supporting military efforts, Berggren said. “It includes all sectors of society, government agencies, municipalities, regions, the private sector, civil society, academia and individuals.
“The war in Ukraine has taught us that society’s most basic functions must continue to operate for a country to continue to resist in the face of an armed aggressor. We are talking about things like the supply of electricity, drinking water, the rescue services … schools, daycare,” he said. “This is key to preserving morale and the will to resist. We have seen in Ukraine that morale can beat a greater force.”
The U.S. Department of Defense relies on European partners to ensure security throughout the region, said Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology.
“We are not just doing that for business reasons, we are doing it for readiness reasons. For example, here in Europe we have suppliers across Europe that provide critical components and materials to our defense production lines and our weapon systems that U.S. Army Soldiers take into battle. That dependency and interconnectedness is not a weakness but a strength,” he said. “These kinds of relationships on the business side of things with supporting defense production enable us to address specific requirements in each region and more effectively support force projection, readiness and training. And most vitally, in many ways, wartime logistics capability.”