NATO lacks 50 crews. How many weapons, time and funding are needed to form them

The Alliance Member States faced serious challenges after the start of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine. NATO has already moved to a defensive strategy that involves defending every meter of Member States. Therefore, you need to create additional forces. According to journalists, in addition to creating brigades, a critical need is the need to strengthen air and missile defense. In particular, Germany should increase the number of air defense forces four times.

If in the midst of the Cold War, there were 36 Patriot SC batteries in the Cold War, now there are only 9, of which 3 have already been handed over to Ukraine. The same situation in other countries. The event sold the weapon after the collapse of the USSR, and now the turn for the production of new air defense complexes is standing for a long time.

In addition, Patriot in Ukraine proved the ability to knock out aerobalist goals in the type of "daggers", which in the Russian Federation is generally called hypersonic rocket. The test of modern air defense products in Ukraine is advertising for manufacturers. Therefore, not only Ukrainians but also world defense companies benefit from supply.

After the organizational restructuring of 2023, a typical American tank brigade consists of seven battalions: regarding the number of equipment, the staffing team should have: the cavalry unit provides units with combat work, a mortar battery, a platoon of radiation chemical and nuclear intelligence. . The total number of the team is 4743 fighters, but it was relevant for 2014. In general, it can fluctuate depending on a particular team, its tasks and equipment.

The exact price of equipment cannot be set because it depends on many factors on the machine, to switch on or not to include crew training. Therefore, for example, let's take the Pentagon budget request for the 2025 financial year. They plan to buy 30 Abrams M1A2 SEPV3 for $ 773. 7 million or $ 25. 8 million per car. That is, the brigade kit requires $ 2,244 billion, but if you buy SEPV3.

Work is currently underway on a fundamentally new Abrams M1E3 tank, which should become a hybrid and new set of opportunities. BMP Bradley - a machine that has proven itself so effectively that Bae Systems has decided to restore the mass production of infantry combat vehicles. The US army currently provides for Bradley modernization, but the last price per car was $ 5. 5 million. So 152 BMP will cost about $ 8. 36 billion. Artection of the SAU M109.

The US Army is now buying a modernized M109A7, which is a further development of the basic M109. The recent purchases did not disclose the number of cars, but in 2020 Pentagon ordered 48 SAUs together with recharging machines for $ 339 million. Separately, the contract includes related costs. Thus, the cost of one SAU can be about $ 7 million. One division is $ 127 million. However, the cost is likely to be higher, since prices were relevant for 2020 and do not take into account inflation.

In addition, every military should have a salary that is different from country to country. It also depends on position and title. The average salary is $ 72 thousand a year. That is, the total costs for only three weapons samples will be $ 10. 927 billion: it is worth noting that this is only a small part of the cost, as the brigade needs everything from cartridges to weapons and aviation for transportation. A separate cost item is fuel. The real cost of equipment can be tens of billions of dollars.

The defense industry of the US and Europe is only gaining momentum. Until recently, the states did not have the opportunity to produce Abrams from scratch, so all the machines were modernization of already made tanks. However, since May, General Dynamics Land Systems has revived the production of corps casting. The US has lost this opportunity since the 1990s. Similarly, with the production of M2 Bradley.

In December 2023, Bae Systems stated that she had received a contract for the production of new 100 BMP Bradley. Do not forget and another important point - the US is preparing to replace Bradley with XM30. As an example from the rate of M2 Bradley, you can take a contract since 2018. The United States then ordered the modernization of 164 BMP to M2A4 level. The first cars began to enter the army in April 2022. That is, it takes about 5-7 years for the brigade kit.

With tanks production is even more difficult. They are not harvested from scratch, but modern cars are upgraded. As an example, Poland. The Polish army ordered 250 tanks Abrams M1A2 SEPV3 in April 2022, together with engineering machines and related costs. The first 28 cars were received at the end of 2022. And all 250 tanks will be in order by 2026. If you calculate very roughly, the supply of 87 cars can take up to 2-3 years. It is difficult to calculate the time required for M109A7 artillery.

Currently, the United States is only ordering one contract for the production of articles. For the formation of 50 tank crews by US Army standard it is necessary: ​​Important nuances are that such figures will be relevant only for US Army standards and without other expenses. Also, with the conditions of preservation of the current rates of production of equipment. Obviously, Western defense enterprises are increasingly increasing their capacity. NATO armies are also growing.