NATO is developing multiple “land corridors” to quickly deploy US troops and armour to the frontline should a land war between the military alliance and Russia erupt.
US soldiers would arrive at one of the five ports earmarked for this plan and be taken along pre-planned logistical routes going through various European nations, it has been claimed.
To allow for quick and smooth transport through the continent, these corridors would not be restricted by local regulations when crossed by the military and would be free to transport consignments without restrictions.
Existing plans to quickly deploy US troops to the eastern flank of NATO would see the American military land at Dutch ports before being taken through Germany and all the way to Poland by train.
But ports in northern Europe – and in particular the Netherlands, Baltic states and Germany – are seen as at risk of potential Russian airstrikes should World War 3 take place.
Therefore, the Western military alliance has drawn other routes not to give the chance to Moscow to cut off the ground line of communications.
Lt Gen Alexander Sollfrank, the chief of NATO’s Jsec logistics command, told The Telegraph: “Ukraine suffers very much from these Russian long-range missile attacks on the logistic systems.”
Should NATO troops arriving through the Netherlands be struck by Russia or the ports in the area destroyed, the military alliance would still be able to rely on other ports in Italy, Turkey and Greece.
A fifth route reportedly planned by the military alliance to take troops from Western Europe to the frontline is through Norway.
While the other routes would lead to the deployment of troops on the border with Ukraine, the Norwegian path would see NATO boots reaching the Russian border by crossing through the territories of the alliance’s newest members – Sweden and Finland.
These routes have become a priority for NATO particularly following the decision taken at a summit in Lithuania last year to get 300,000 troops in a state of high readiness amid rising tensions.
More urgency has also been created by Norway’s Defence Chief General Eirik Kristoffersen, who said on June 3 that the Western alliance only has two to three years to prepare before Russia is ready to carry out a conventional attack at a different target.
