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<ul class="summary-list"><li>During exercises in Europe this spring, US forces worked on new ways to get equipment and supplies troops in the field.</li><li>Those new approaches are part of a broader effort to improve <keyword id="6371298" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="NATO">NATO</keyword>'s ability to reinforce and resupply units across Europe.</li><li>The efforts reflect NATO's increased focus on mobility amid heightened tensions with Russia.</li></ul><p>In recent weeks, US troops on opposite sides of Europe have used new ways to get equipment and supplies to troops in forward locations, reflecting NATO's increased focus on mobility amid heightened tensions with Russia.</p><p>This month, US Army logisticians and transporters unloaded 300 pieces of equipment belonging to the Army National Guard's 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at the port of Esbjerg in Denmark.</p><p>The gear was to be transported by rail and road to the roughly 800 soldiers who recently arrived in Poland to join the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nato-multinational-battle-groups-in-eastern-europe-to-counter-russia-2018-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has operated there</a> since late 2017.</p><p>"This is the first time the US Army has worked with the Danish armed forces at the Esbjerg port to execute an operation of this kind," an Army press release <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/398299/port-ops-esbjerg-denmark-support-natos-enhanced-forward-presence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, adding that "expanding" the number of European seaports that can support Army deployments was "a key objective."</p><div type="image" title="US military cargo ship USNS Bob Hope" height="1333" width="2000" msid="83501470" hostid="261"></div><p>That gear arrived in Esbjerg a month after US soldiers and sailors unloaded gear and fuel in Durres, Albania to kick off the Defender-Europe 21 exercises.</p><p>Rather than offloading directly in Durres' port, US personnel conducted a joint logistics over-the-shore operation, unloading vehicles and other heavy equipment from <keyword id="11440197" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="usns-bob-hope">USNS Bob Hope</keyword>, a US Military Sealift Command cargo ship, onto smaller vessels for transport to shore.</p><p>JLOTS operations allow US sealift vessels to load and unload personnel and equipment in what the Army <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/395767/united-states-and-albania-interoperability-defender-europe-21" target="_blank" rel="noopener">described</a> as "severe environments, damaged ports, or over a bare beach" using smaller ships.</p><p>The JLOTS operation included a bulk fuel transfer over-the-shore, in which 20,000 gallons of petroleum was pumped from a ship in the Adriatic Sea to a supply point on "<a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/396527/mission-success-joint-forces-port-durres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an unimproved beach</a>" in Durres for distribution to units in the field.</p><div type="image" title="US military vehicles in port at Durres Albania" height="1333" width="2000" msid="83501472" hostid="261"></div><p>The JLOTS operation at Durres was the first in Europe since World War II, the Army said, and the bulk fuel transfer was the first of its kind <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/395767/united-states-and-albania-interoperability-defender-europe-21" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in 30 years</a>.</p><p>Defender-Europe and its counterpart in the Pacific are "great exercises" for <keyword id="2522406" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="US-Transportation-Command">US Transportation Command</keyword>, which oversees Military Sealift Command, Army Gen. Stephen Lyons, head of Transportation Command, <a href="https://www.hudson.org/events/1955-virtual-event-a-conversation-with-ustranscom-commander-gen-stephen-lyons52021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said at a recent</a> Hudson Institute event.</p><p>The "most important part" of Defender-Europe was to reinforce <keyword id="2553429" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="US-European-Command">US European Command</keyword>'s "imperatives of deterrence, of assurance to our allies and partners, and again ... demonstrating our ability to project power at our time and place of choosing," Lyons added.</p><h2>'Shoot, move, and communicate'</h2><div type="image" title="US Army armor tanks Antwerp Belgium Europe" height="933" width="1400" msid="83501474" hostid="261"></div><p>Since Russia's 2014 seizure of Crimea, NATO has put renewed focus on its ability to move forces and supplies into and around Europe.</p><p>The alliance has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nato-relearning-cold-war-tactics-to-face-new-threats-in-europe-2018-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sought to regain capabilities it let wane</a> after the Cold War and to prepare to face a more capable adversary that could challenge or deny its movements in a conflict.</p><p>NATO <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_52044.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expanded</a> from 16 members in 1991 to 30 in 2021, incorporating countries where infrastructure, such as railways and roads, didn't match that of Western Europe or couldn't support the tanks and other heavy equipment used by the alliance's militaries.</p><p>Administrative obstacles, such as customs and transportation regulations, also hindered cross-border movement.</p><p>A <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/nato-faces-serious-shortcomings-in-command-revamp-a-1173947.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NATO internal report</a> in 2017 said its ability to rapidly deploy throughout Europe had "atrophied since the end of the Cold War."</p><div type="image" title="US Army German Abrams tank flag" height="1403" width="2493" msid="83501477" hostid="261"></div><p>European countries are working to ease those administrative roadblocks and to improve their infrastructure.</p><p>NATO has also established two new commands to support logistical operations - one in Norfolk, Virginia, to oversee transatlantic reinforcement and one in Ulm, Germany, to manage movement in Europe.</p><p>US Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe and head of US European Command, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-eucom-chief-thinks-about-getting-around-europe-before-bed-2019-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Insider at an event in December 2019</a> that the alliance was "dedicating tremendous energy to this very issue."</p><p>To support that effort, the US military has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-ironhorse-brigade-armor-unit-training-to-travel-around-europe-2018-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">returned to ports</a> that it hasn't <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/army-uses-netherlands-port-vlissingen-first-time-amid-russia-tensions-2019-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used in decades</a> to conduct operations like that in Esbjerg.</p><p>The US Navy has also refocused on reinforcement, simulating its first "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-military-sealift-command-practice-convoy-operations-in-atlantic-2020-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opposed transit</a>" of the Atlantic since the 1980s in 2020 and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-training-for-all-domain-fight-atlantic-during-nato-exercise-2021-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">building on it with another exercise</a> this spring.</p><div type="image" title="Navy Vella Gulf Benavidez cargo ship convoy" height="933" width="1400" msid="83501478" hostid="261"></div><p>New prepositioned stocks for the Army and the Air Force's new deployable airbase system also allow US troops arriving in Europe to "immediately hit the deck running" and "shoot, move, and communicate with success against any potential foe," Wolters said at an Atlantic Council <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/competition-and-deterrence-in-europe-a-conversation-with-general-tod-d-wolters-useucom-commander-and-saceur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">event</a> this week.</p><p>"We take logistics very, very seriously. We're improving our ability to increase our posture once we get the forces where they need to be," Wolters added, responding to a question from Insider.</p><p>Exercises since 2016, including Defender-Europe 21, continue to improve that logistical capability, which Wolters said was essential to warfare.</p><p>"It's just as important to be lethal in air, land, sea, space, and cyber as it is to be lethal in logistics," Wolters said.</p>

On opposite sides of Europe, US troops are practicing new ways to get to battle

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Andrew Renneisen / Stringer / Getty Images</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>The US is the world's most powerful military, according to firepower.</strong></li><li><strong>Russia and China aren't far behind.</strong></li></ul><p>President Donald Trump has reemphasized military strength, reportedly planning to ask for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-trump-to-ask-for-716-billion-in-defense-spending-in-2019-budget-washington-post-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$716 billion</a> in <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Defense">defense</keyword> spending in 2019 - a 7% increase over the 2018 budget (though spending is currently <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-signs-700-billion-military-budget-into-law" target="_blank" rel="noopener">limited</a> by budget caps).</p><p>US defense spending is the highest in the world, more than the combined budgets of the next several countries. But US plans to ramp up acquisitions of military hardware will only add to an already booming arms industry.</p><p>Between 2012 and 2016, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/20/global-arms-weapons-trade-highest-point-since-cold-war-era" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more weapons</a> were delivered around the world than during any five-year period since 1990.</p><p>Below, you can see <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/most-powerful-militaries-in-the-world-ranked-2018-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the world's top 25 militaries</a> and the assets they can deploy to the battlefield, as ranked by Global Firepower Index.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Jenny Cheng/Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span>The ranking assesses the diversity of weapons held by each country and pays particular attention to the manpower available.</span></p><p><span>"Balance is the key - a large, strong fighting force across land, sea and air backed by a resilient economy and defensible territory along with an efficient infrastructure - such qualities are those used to round out a particular nation's total fighting strength on paper," the ranking states.</span></p><p><span>But a few defining aspects of those countries' ability to muster military power are not directly related to their armed forces.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade/File</span></p><p class="caption">Employees stand in front of the Indian navy's first Scorpene submarine at Mazagon Docks in Mumbai, April 6, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Geographical factors, logistical flexibility, natural resources, and local industry all influenced the final ranking, Global Firepower said. </span></p><p><span>Each of the top 10 countries have a labor force of more than 30 million people. Three of the top five - the US, China, and India - have more than 150 million available workers.</span></p><p><span>The following 15 countries vary more widely in labor-force size - from 123.7 million in Indonesia to 3.9 million in Israel - but they still have more than 37.2 million workers on average.</span></p><p><span>Industrial and labor capacity are complemented by robust logistical capabilities, including extensive railway and roadway networks, numerous major ports and airports, and strong merchant-marine corps. </span>Extensive coastlines and waterways also facilitate the movement of goods and people.</p><p>For the US, those logistical capacities have been tested by increasing activity in Afghanistan as well as efforts to built up its presence in Europe.</p><p>The US Army's 1st Armored Division Sustainment Brigade served as the logistics headquarters in Afghanistan in 2017. During its six-month deployment, the unit distributed more than 380 million gallons of fuel throughout Afghanistan - a landlocked country roughly the size of Texas.</p><p><span>"It's not easy to [transport] fuel. You have to get it to the right place at the right time. You have to make sure it's of the right quality, and you have to make sure you have storage on one end and distribution capability on the other end," Col. Michael Lalor, the brigade commander, <a href="https://www.army.mil/article/200672/army_logisticians_shift_efforts_to_distribute_more_fuel_equipment_across_afghanistan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in late February. "That's what always kept me up at night."</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>US Army/Sgt. Jaccob Hearn</span></p><p class="caption">Vehicles and other cargo are unloaded from the USNS Bob Hope by the soldiers of the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, November 1, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p>US Military Sealift Command (MSC), which oversees the US Navy's fleet of mostly civilian-crewed support ships, is adding ships to boost its presence around Europe and Africa, in response to both insurgent activity and growing tensions with Russia - all of which have added tension to the US's already strained supply lines.</p><p>In 2017, MSC moved twice as much ordnance, three times as many critical parts, and one-third as much cargo in Europe and Africa as it did in 2016.</p><p>"I definitely don't see (activity) going down any time soon," Capt. Eric Conzen, MSC commander in Europe and Africa, <a href="https://www.stripes.com/news/navy-s-civilian-run-ships-playing-bigger-supply-role-amid-russia-tensions-1.513934" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Stars and Stripes</a> of his unit's workload. "There's a desire for it to increase."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/comparing-russia-most-advanced-military-equipment-nato-hardware-us-defense-2017-1">How Russia's most advanced military equipment stacks up against NATO hardware</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

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On opposite sides of Europe, US troops are practicing new ways to get to battle

Christopher Woody

Here's the hardware the world's top 25 militaries have in their arsenals

Christopher Woody,Jenny Cheng

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