The United States plans to significantly reduce the number of aircraft and warships it deploys for NATO operations in Europe, according to two senior European officials, accelerating America's effort to limit the protection it has provided to its European allies for eight decades.
More specifically, according to the New York Times, this decision will limit NATO's ability to conduct long-range strikes and carry out surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
Specifically, the planned reductions include:
- Reduction of the number of F-16 and F-15E fighter aircraft from approximately 150 to 100.
- Reduction of naval reconnaissance aircraft from 26 to 15 and complete withdrawal of all eight aerial refueling aircraft previously available for Europe.
- Reallocation of one submarine equipped with missile systems and one aircraft carrier, along with several warships and dozens of aircraft involved in the carrier's missions.
- Reallocation of one of the two bomber groups previously assigned to Europe's defense.
It is noted that the Pentagon declined to comment on the specific numbers included in the document and referred to a statement from the U.S. European Command last week, which generally mentioned the intention to reduce U.S. commitments in Europe.
These details, some of which were first published by the German news outlet Die Welt, provide the clearest picture yet of the scope of the Trump administration's intention to reduce its commitment to NATO, a military alliance created after World War II.
Historically, NATO's main purpose was to protect America's allies in Europe from external threats such as the Soviet Union, and its European members still consider it essential for deterring Russia.
The Pentagon has not yet publicly disclosed the timeline for withdrawing these forces, but U.S. officials have indicated that it will take effect very soon — much sooner than their European partners were prepared for. The sudden withdrawal of U.S. forces will affect NATO's ability, for example, to monitor Russian submarine activity or to launch long-range Tomahawk missiles deep into Russian territory.
Although Europeans have similar missile launch capabilities, experts point out that these specific weapon systems act as a stronger deterrent against Russia when under U.S. control, as Europeans may be more cautious in using them.
'While each of these cuts can be addressed individually, together they represent a significant change in military posture and pose challenges for European deterrence readiness across the spectrum,' said Giuseppe Spatafora of the European Union Institute for Security Studies, a think tank based in Paris.
As the New York Times notes, U.S. President Trump has been 'complaining' for years about the burden borne by the United States through its contribution to NATO.
In this context, he has repeatedly called on Europe to take much greater responsibility for its own defense without U.S. support, and has even threatened to leave the alliance. However, until now his administration had limited itself to individual announcements about small force withdrawals from specific countries.
What will ultimately be the consequences for Europe?
The impact of the cuts will be mitigated by the fact that U.S. forces in Europe will still constitute one of NATO's largest military presences on the continent. Furthermore, the consequences of the reduction will be limited because European leaders, recognizing the need to depend less on the United States, had already begun processes to rearm their countries.
However, the British Defense Minister resigned on Thursday, accusing the government of spending too little on its military needs. At the same time, Europe is struggling to coordinate its rearmament efforts; on Tuesday, Germany confirmed its withdrawal from the program to develop a new fighter aircraft in collaboration with France and Spain.
For some Europeans, the exact number of U.S. assets available in Europe is less important than the question of whether Trump is willing to use them in the event of a military conflict.
Anton Hofreiter, a German MP, said: 'The main problem of NATO is that as long as Trump remains president, there is no longer the belief that the United States will help Europeans in an emergency.'
As emphasized, this weakening comes at a particularly tense time for Europe. In late May, a Russian unmanned aircraft struck an apartment building in Romania, marking the first such strike on a large urban area within the territory of a NATO member state. Combined with other violations of NATO airspace by Russian drones, the incident heightened European fears that Russia may extend its aggression beyond its invasion of Ukraine.
