A Pentagon-commissioned report published 15 April envisions equipping Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with ‘resistance’ cells armed with unconventional weapons to deter Russia from invading.
These capabilities would range from cyber to drones to long-range mobile communications and non-lethal weapons as well as small arms, explosives, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, the Rand Corporation report said.
‘Total defense and unconventional warfare capabilities can complement the existing conventional defense efforts of the Baltic states and NATO,’ said Stephen Flanagan, the report's lead author. He said such cells would also buy time for national and NATO responses if Russia did invade one or all of the tiny republics on its western border, as it did with Crimea in 2014.
NATO members since 2004, the Baltic states, which like Ukraine have an ethnic Russian minority, are already in the process of building up its special forces units.
The report called for strengthened cooperation between the Baltic states, the European Union and NATO in areas such as crisis management, intelligence, resistance and fighting disinformation. The idea proposed by the report's authors would be to organize each Baltic country's defences around four levels of resistance.
‘Violent’ units made up of special forces, reservists and undefeated combat units would be charged with carrying out ambushes or freeing prisoners, under the scheme outlined in the report. Less heavily equipped units composed of police or amateur sharpshooters would be in charge of sabotage operations. Civilians would be looked to for intelligence support, to care for the wounded and feed combatants.
The report recommends supplying the Baltic states with night-vision goggles, portable computers, cameras and all-terrain vehicles as part of a program estimated to cost an initial $125 million.
Any potential ‘Arctic Sentry’ mission would be months in the planning, but with tensions high in the region given the US’s push for Greenland, NATO countries will need to continue to emphasise their commitment to the region, analysts have said.
Defence Minister Gen Vladimir Padrino López has declared that the Venezuelan armed forces “will continue to employ all its available capabilities for military defence”.
The UK’s defence spending commitments remain uncertain as the government’s Defence Investment Plan, which had been due by the end of 2025, is yet to be published.
Disruption of infrastructure in Europe, whether by cyberattack, physical damage to pipelines or uncrewed aerial vehicles flying over major airports, as has happened more recently, is on the rise. What is the most effective way of countering the aerial aspect of this not-so-open warfare?
The US State Department’s approval of a multi-billion-dollar sale of weapons to Taiwan includes tactical mission networks equipment, uncrewed aerial systems, artillery rocket systems and self-propelled howitzers as well as anti-tank guided missiles.
Ireland’s multi-annual investment in capital defence spending is set to rise from €300m in 2026 to €360m in 2029–2030 with major upgrades across land, air, maritime and cyber domains.
Connect with us on socials
