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U.S. To Increase Cyber Capabilities, Research and Funding with NATO

More U.S. forces also will be deployed to support security in Europe.
By Diego Laje and Nuray Taylor

President Joe Biden announced an expansion of U.S. forces and cyber capabilities to Europe in support of NATO.

"NATO is strong, united, and the steps we're taking during this summit are going to further augment our collective strength," Biden said during the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday.

A new cyber cooperation action plan is also expected from this summit, covering political, military and technical levels.

"Since February 2022, DoD deployed or extended over 20,000 additional forces to Europe in response to the Ukraine crisis, adding additional air, land, maritime, cyber and space capabilities, bringing our current total to more than 100,000 service members across Europe," said the department in a release.

The organization will launch the NATO Innovation Fund. “It will invest 1 billion euros in start-ups and funds developing dual-use emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence,” said Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general.

This fund will be a part of NATO’s Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, or DIANA, Stoltenberg said in a press conference.

“Leaders will offer pledges to help stand up a new Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic,” the White House said in a release, and specified that the U.S. will also facilitate access to test centers and accelerator sites to NATO allies.

In terms of other combat resources, the increases will bring from four to six the number of U.S. destroyers at the Rota Naval Base, in Spain. The Army will establish a permanent headquarters for the U.S. 5th Army Corps in Poland and a rotational brigade combat team in Romania.

"In Poland, we're going to establish a permanent headquarters of the U.S. 5th Army Corps and strengthen NATO interoperability across the entire eastern flank," Biden told journalists.

Also, the United Kingdom will receive two additional F-35 squadrons that will be stationed at RAF Lakenheath.

Special operations forces will also be deployed in the Baltic republics, as well as 625 military personnel for air defense, logistics and engineering in Germany, as well as 65 troops to increase air defense capabilities in Italy.

These decisions "are reflective of the United States government's recognition that the security environment has changed and, in particular, in the NATO that the Eastern countries are facing a heightened threat from a Russian leadership that has shown itself willing and capable of launching military attacks on bordering countries," said Celeste A. Wallander, the Defense Department's assistant secretary for international security affairs.