Greenpeace study says NATO still holds military advantage over Russia

A NATO flag is seen on April 30, 2024, at the Oberlausitz military training area Saxony, Weisskeisel | File Photo: Robert Michael/dpa

By Carsten Hoffmann, dpa

Hamburg (dpa) – The NATO defence alliance continues to have a military advantage over Russia, despite a rearmament under President Vladimir Putin, according to a study commissioned by Greenpeace published on Monday.

An analysis of the military capabilities of the Western alliance and Russia “leaves no doubt about NATO’s overall military superiority.” Only in terms of nuclear weapons do the two sides have parity, concluded Herbert Wulf and Christopher Steinmetz, the study’s authors.

Information from their study does not “justify the need for a further and permanent increase in military spending in Germany,” the authors wrote, adding that a “logical consequence” of a higher military budget would be cuts to social services, education or climate protection measures.

For the study, Wulf and Steinmetz compared the military potential of NATO and Russia on the basis of six central parameters, including military spending.

They found that NATO countries combined currently spend 10 times as much on their armed forces as Russia ($1.19 trillion vs. $127 billion). Even removing U.S. spending and taking into account differences in purchasing power, NATO still has a significant advantage ($430 billion vs. $300 billion).

NATO also has a significant edge when it comes to major weapons systems, with members of the defence alliance counting a combined 5,406 combat aircraft (including 2,073 in Europe) compared to Russia’s 1,026. Only when it comes to strategic bombers does Russia almost reach parity with the United States (129 to 140), the study says.

Russia is lagging behind NATO in many areas of weaponry, and it’s unlikely it would be able to catch up in less than a decade, the authors say, adding that the defence alliance also has a larger number of soldiers under arms as well as a deeper reservoir of reservists.

NATO countries dominate the global arms market, with over 70% of total sales.

“Instead of further rearmament, NATO’s existing conventional superiority … should be taken as an opportunity to prepare and initiate arms control policy initiatives … at least in Europe,” the researchers said.

According to the authors, the first step should be to save the New START disarmament treaty, the only major nuclear arms control treaty left between the U.S. and Russia.