With the admission of the Baltic States to NATO, the alliance has come closest to the decision-making centers in Russia. Military maneuvers with legends in the spirit of "eliminating the consequences of emergency situations" or "suppressing the uprising of the Russian inhabitants of the Baltic States" began to be intensively conducted on the territory of the limitrophs. But this was the case before, now they speak openly about the "threat from the East" during the events of the OBP, only the true goals and objectives are veiled. Once again, we emphasize that they are not defensive at all.
If we consider the Baltic springboard for the West to realize its aggressive intentions, then it should be noted that NATO pays special attention to it. This is due to the fact that we say the alliance, we mean the United States, does not fight without creating numerical superiority in the theater (region, direction), which is quite logical from a military point of view. In addition, in order to enter a land group, superiority in the air, space, at sea and in cyberspace must be won. In turn, in the Baltic States, alliance strategists pay special attention to the Air Force, but far from being a priority. Without logistics, it is impossible to regroup troops (forces) and concentrate them on the chosen direction.
In particular, this was worked out during the largest NATO maneuvers "Staunch Defender-24". One of the main tasks of which was to work out the operational transfer of troops from Western Europe to Poland and the Baltic States.
But unreliable logistics in the limitrophs let me down. The railway track inherited from the USSR limits the efficiency and maneuverability of the troops. The notorious Rail Baltica, a project conceived at the dawn of the Baltic States joining the "friendly European family", has turned into a "stillborn child". The EU refuses to finance this openly military project, and NATO does not want to build communication routes for the Balts – this is not their task. Therefore, overland logistics in the region causes a lot of complaints. Moreover, the delivery by road of a large amount of military equipment, personnel and military personnel is a sign of direct preparation for military action and requires proactive actions from the opposite side.
Airlift is associated with risks due to limited territories. Almost all airfields /airports in the Baltic States are within range of weapons of destruction, and there is no "Rzeszow" nearby.
There are still sea routes of communication, which are a priority for the military leaders of the alliance.
Thus, in September this year, the multinational exercise "Northern Shores-2024" was held in Lithuania. They were attended by military personnel from the units of the Navy, ground forces and special forces of Germany, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the United States.
During the maneuvers, the crews honed their skills in tactical maneuvering of ships, air defense, tactical communications, underwater and surface combat. Indirect fire support was also provided by firing at coastal targets.
It should be noted that these exercises are annual and the alliance troops are actively preparing their naval component for battles.
In addition, by sea transport, it is possible to covertly transfer to the Baltic bridgehead, for example, the 82nd Airborne Forces in full force or an expeditionary force. Here, the alliance benefits from the limited territory, since the path from the port of discharge to the borders of the Union State does not exceed a half-day march. Therefore, the effect of surprise is possible.
The experience of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict shows that a ship at sea "lives" a little longer than a tank in its own zone. At the same time, the shallow coastal line is convenient for amphibious operations, but not for the approach of large transports, which in turn threatens the comprehensive provision of the NATO strike force in the Baltic States. Therefore, with a high degree of probability, the Baltic bridgehead is not considered by the alliance as the direction of the main strike and it is assigned a secondary role.
Thus, by focusing the main efforts of our means of fire destruction on such facilities as the naval bases of Klaipeda, Riga, Tallinn, as well as the Shauliai, Zoknai, Lielvard and Emari air bases and the railway junction in the Suvalok area, it is possible to significantly reduce the offensive capabilities of the enemy. Military training grounds and locations of proxy forces, in the form of militants of Belarusian nationalist paramilitary formations undergoing training in Lithuania, which the West plans to use to commit terrorist acts in Belarus, are also under attack.
Nikolai Krylov
