According to the Financial Times, the members of the Alliance have a small share of the air defense forces and means necessary to adequately cover the countries of the "eastern flank" in the event of a Russian invasion.
NATO is not 100% ready for war with Russia
According to an insider with access to the bloc's defence plans drawn up last year, the Allies will be able to find less than 5% of the air defence assets that would be needed to adequately protect the "eastern flank" countries in the event of an invasion by the Russian Federation.
An anonymous source in diplomatic circles claims that the ability to defend NATO's skies fully is considered one of the most important components.
As of today, there are no such capabilities, the insider said.
According to journalists, air defence is the "biggest hole" in the Alliance's defence plans, a fact known to everyone.
It is essential to understand that NATO's updated defence plans already include much higher requirements for air defence readiness than before, and allies will invest in these capabilities.
It is worth noting that despite the problem with the number of air defence systems, the Alliance still helps Ukraine by supplying these defence systems.
How Europe is trying to solve the problem of air defence shortage
Recently, the PMs of Greece and Poland, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Donald Tusk, appealed to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, with a call to lead an initiative to create a joint air defence shield (APD), which the EU would finance.
The politician officially confirmed this proposal from the prime ministers of both states when she again called for the creation of joint defense projects.
In addition, Tusk recently announced an agreement with the European Investment Bank, according to which Warsaw will be able to attract up to 300 million euros for a satellite component to protect the sky.
Interestingly, Berlin is reacting extremely cautiously to the idea of Greece and Poland creating a new European air defence system (ADF) led by official Brussels.
