US plans major NATO force reduction in Europe, including F-16s, tankers and surveillance aircraft

The United States is planning to significantly reduce the number of aircraft it deploys in Europe for NATO. According to a New York Times US will pull back roughly 50 F-16 and F-15E fighter jets, eight refuelling tankers, reduce maritime reconnaissance aircraft from 26 to 15, reallocate one of the two groups of bombers, reallocate a missile-launching submarine and an aircraft carrier and the strike group that joins them. The decision is likely to reduce NATO's long-range striking ability and surveillance capacity significantly.

According to the NYT report, the decision was communicated by the Trump administration in a written document. The European officials who were briefed on the document spoke on the condition of anonymity to the NYT to reveal details of the plan. The Pentagon official has reportedly not disclosed the proper timeline of the drawdown; however, it is likely to happen sooner than expected.

“While each of these cuts can be managed individually, together they represent a significant posture change and pose challenges to European deterrence readiness across the spectrum,” said Giuseppe Spatafora, of the European Union Institute for Security Studies, a Paris-based think tank.

While Europe is seemingly planning to wait out Trump's second term, NATO navigates one of the toughest patches in its alliance. Moreover, for the European, the specific number of assets allocated to them is less important, but rather whether the US opposes Europe in principle is more significant.

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"NATO’s main problem is that, as long as Trump is president, there is no longer any faith that the U.S. would come to the Europeans’ aid in the event of an emergency,” said Anton Hofreiter, a German lawmaker. The drawdown comes at a time when US President Donald Trump is transitioning increasingly larger military assets in the region. This is also significant as Russia and Ukraine continues its long drawn war in the Eastern front of Europe. In late May, a Russian drone hit an apartment block in Romania, the first such strike in a major urban area in NATO territory. Russia is getting increasingly bold, as Europe is weakened by the turmoil in its political elite and the reduced military spending. The head of the Pentagon’s European Command, Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, said in early June that the European codependence has been unhealthy for US military forces, and it needs to be changed.