by Ilya Tsukanov [11-23-2024 published].

(If you have been following Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it should be obvious that Russia today is no longer a military threat to anyone in Europe. The Special Military Operation (SMO) in Ukraine is a direct result of NATO ignoring long-standing issues about continued expansion of NATO right up to the Russian border. Since Russia is no longer a military threat to Europe, there should be no need for all of these US & NATO bases throughout Europe!!! Of course, it is next to impossible to get any of these bases cancelled, since they are used to project 'power' in those countries by the US. Everyone would save a lot of $money and all of Europe would be a lot more peaceful if these military bases were removed. How would the US feel if this many Russian military bases were positioned in Canada, Mexico, Cuba & other nearby regions with nuclear missiles all pointing to the US? Now do you begin to understand why Russia is concerned about all of these military bases targeting Russia? — RAD)

In his remarks unveiling the Oreshnik missile system on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin warned that Moscow reserves the right “to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow using their weapons against our facilities.”

Russia's new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile has a 2.5-3 km/s flight speed, a 1-1.2 ton payload, is equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles, and is designated as an intermediate-range missile, which means a firing range of up to 5,500 km. During its test combat deployment against a Ukrainian military-industrial target Thursday, the Oreshnik was thought to have traveled 1,000 km or more to Dnepropetrovsk from Russia's Astrakhan region.

Here are some key NATO facilities within reach of the new hypersonic intermediate-range missile:

Eastern Europe

Poland

• Lask Air Base (home to permanent US Air Force detachment)
• Forward Operating Sites Powidz, Zagan and Poznan (US Army weapons and equipment storage)
• US Army Garrison Poland (V Corps Forward HQ), Poznan
• Redzikowo Base (home to US Aegis Ashore missile defense site)

Estonia

• Amari Air Base (situated in Harjumaa, northern Estonia; deemed key for NATO "air policing" operations over the Baltic Sea)

Latvia

• Selonia Military Training Area (touted as the largest NATO training camp in the Baltic)

Lithuania

• Rudninkai Military Base (future home of Germany's first permanent base abroad; set to station some 5,000 Bundeswehr troops when completed)

Romania

• Deveselu Military Base (another US Aegis Ashore site)
• Mihail Kogalniceanu Military Base (NATO’s easternmost base in Europe, home to US Army Area Support Group Black Sea regional command)

Bulgaria

• Bezmer Air Base (key potential storage site for US long range aircraft)
• Novo Selo Range (major NATO training base)
• Graf Ignatievo Air Base

Kosovo

• Camp Bondsteel (set up in 1999 after the NATO bombardment of Yugoslavia and occupation of Kosovo. Largest US base in the Balkans)

Northern Europe

Finland

• Mikkeli (future home of NATO Multi Corps Land Component Command HQ, as little as 150 km from Russian border)

Sweden

• Karlskrona Naval Base (key to NATO calculations for establishing total control of the Baltic Sea)

Western Europe

Germany

Home to by far the largest US garrison in Europe and the second-largest US deployment abroad, besides Japan. Home to some 35,000 troops and support personnel.

• Ramstein Air Base (largest US and NATO air base in Europe, key to US operations in the region and Middle East, including the once secret US drone program)
• Spangdahlem Air Base
• NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen
• Buchel Air Base (stores US nukes)
• US Army Garrison Ansbach
• US Army Garrison Bavaria
• US Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz
• US Army Garrison Stuttgart
• US Army Garrison Wiesbaden

Belgium

• US Army Garrison Benelux
• Kleine Brogel Air Base (stores US nukes)

Netherlands

• Volkel Air Base (stores US nukes)

Italy

Another key US garrison country in Europe. Jumping off and/or transit point for US and NATO military operations in the Middle East and North Africa, including the 2011 aerial aggression against Libya, which triggered a wave of migrants and refugees flooding into Europe via Italy.

• Aviano Air Base (stores US nukes)
• Ghedi Air Base
• Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily
• Naval Support Activity Naples (HQ of US 6th Fleet)
• US Army Garrison Italy

Greece

• Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Crete

UK

• Royal Air Force Lakenheath
• Royal Air Force Mildenhall
• Royal Air Force Alconbury/Molesworth
• Royal Air Force Croughton, Fairford, Welford (common stopover site for US strike and strategic bomber aircraft)
  Royal Air Force High Wycombe (RAF HQ)
• Portsmouth Naval Base (home to two-thirds of Royal Navy’s surface fleet)

Spain

• Rota Naval Base (permanent home to six US missile destroyers). Key strategic facility for US operations in the Mediterranean Sea.
• Moron Air Base

Portugal

• Lajes Air Base, Azores Islands (key NATO transatlantic logistical hub, targetable if Oreshnik can be redeployed from Astrakhan region to new launch locations somewhere west of Moscow)

Related

Just a Coincidence? Sikorski Admits US Anti-Iran Missile Shield in Poland Aims at Russia Too [10-12-2024]

Top German Court Rules Berlin Can’t Force US Drones Using Ramstein Base to Refrain From War Crimes [11-27-2024]

Why US and Its NATO Allies Can't Intercept Russia's Oreshnik Missiles [11-22-2024]

Pepe Escobar: Oreshnik - The 3 Km Per Second Plot Twist [11-22-2024]