NATO general: Russian Armed Forces grow faster than analysts predicted

Russia is looking to gain an advantage through weapon systems such as the Oreshnik missile, NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, General Christopher Cavoli said. 

Photo: function.mil.ru by Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

S-300 air defence complex

"These new capabilities show that the Russian army intends to gain a tactical and operational advantage on the future battlefield," he said.

Cavoli also noted that Russia was expanding the size of its armed forces faster than analysts had predicted.

"Russia is not only increasing its personnel but is also replacing military equipment and ammunition at an unprecedented pace," he stated in his opening remarks for a hearing in the US Senate.

Russia has been successfully rebuilding its non-nuclear forces while maintaining a higher level of combat readiness. To crown it all, Russia benefits from a favorable geographic position, US General Christopher Cavoli added.

Russia can rapidly increase troop numbers along its borders to counter NATO forces in the event of a hypothetical conflict. In this regard, NATO and US European Command must be prepared to reduce Russia's ability to quickly deploy numerically superior ground forces.

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Christopher Gerard Cavoli is a four star general in the United States Army who serves as the commander of United States European Command since 1 July 2022 and Supreme Allied Commander Europe since 4 July 2022. He previously served as the commanding general of United States Army Europe and Africa from October 2020 to June 2022, and before that as the commanding general of United States Army Europe from January 2018 to September 2020. Commissioned into the infantry from the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, Cavoli served in the War in Afghanistan and commanded a brigade of the 1st Armored Division, the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command, and the 25th Infantry Division before assuming command of USAREUR in January 2018.