The United States plans to significantly reduce the number of fighter jets, aircraft and warships it provides for NATO operations in Europe, according to a report by The New York Times citing two senior European officials.
The reported cuts would limit NATO’s ability to carry out long-range strikes and surveillance missions, the newspaper said.
The planned changes include reducing the number of F-16 and F-15E fighter jets assigned to NATO operations from around 150 to 100. The US would also cut maritime reconnaissance aircraft from 26 to 15 and remove all eight aerial refueling tanker jets previously made available to European operations.
The report said the US also plans to redeploy a missile-launching submarine, an aircraft carrier, several warships and dozens of aircraft supporting carrier operations. One of two bomber groups previously assigned to Europe’s defense could also be moved elsewhere.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. NATO and the US Department of Defense did not immediately comment.
The US Eastern Command said last week that Washington would “rightsize” its contributions to the NATO Force Model, without providing further details.
The reported changes come as the administration of US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized European allies for what it describes as insufficient defense spending and excessive reliance on US protection.
Washington has urged European and Asian allies to increase defense spending, including a target of 3.5% of GDP.
