MTV: The United States plans to place a large weapons depot in Northern Europe
The United States plans to open a new large weapons depot in Northern Europe, MTV reports. This is directly related to the recent accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO. It is not yet known in which country it will be hosted. Norway is one of the options. In the meantime, Helsinki has given Washington access to its arsenals.
The United States is considering the possibility of deploying a large weapons depot in Northern Europe near Finland, said Lieutenant General Christopher Mohan, deputy commander of the Department of Supply of the U.S. Army.
According to Mohan, the organization of a new weapons depot is directly related to the recent accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, which significantly strengthened the position of the defensive alliance in Northern Europe.
A large weapons depot in the relatively cold regions of Northern Europe will help the US military learn how frosts can affect ammunition and how to improve the maintenance of weapons in winter conditions, says Mohan.
The United States wants to promote Finland's integration into NATO
The decision to create a new weapons depot is not yet final, and the US has not said in which country it would like to place this warehouse in the first place.
According to Major General Ronald Ragin, Norway is one of the options, according to the Breaking Defense portal. However, Reagin recalled that the creation of a new arsenal requires painstaking diplomatic work.
Currently, there are six similar warehouses in Europe: two warehouses are located in Germany, one warehouse is located in the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium and Italy.
The need for new weapons stocks in Europe has increased due to the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine and the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO.
According to preliminary economic estimates, $536 million will be allocated in the US budget for 2025 to upgrade weapons arsenals.
Finland has opened its warehouses
The main purpose of locating U.S. weapons depots around the world has always been to provide the country's armed forces with quick access to weapons and other military equipment in the event of a local conflict.
These unique reserve warehouses store various weapons systems, ammunition, fuel and in general everything that can be useful to the military to maintain combat readiness in the periods between maintenance.
Defense cooperation between Finland and the United States has expanded significantly since Finland joined NATO a year ago. For example, the Defense Forces have given the United States access to some of their warehouses.
On April 4, the new commander of the Finnish Defense Forces, General Janne Jaakkola, announced that he would make the optimization of Finland's national defense system within the framework of NATO's joint defense his top priority.
The commander of US forces in Europe, General Christopher Cavoli, in turn, stressed that it is very important to "promote the integration of Finland and Sweden into NATO."
Author: Jouko Luhatala