Nonprofit research company MITRE has published the NATO Force Mix Analysis report, which recommends measures for the alliance to achieve overmatch against Russia by 2027.
The report, titled “NATO 2027: European Leadership Will Be Key to Deterrence Against Russia,” was initiated to support a shift from a national-focused defense posture to alliance-wide thinking to address the rising Russian threat, particularly in the Northeast Corridor.
While NATO maintains superiority over Moscow in numbers and technology on paper, the alliance lacks quick joint-response capabilities and mechanisms to deter Russian forces’ speed advantage near its borders, MITRE said in the 18-page report released Tuesday.
Shift in Wartime Thinking
The analysis report, conducted in partnership with NATO and the Atlantic Council, also addresses NATO’s “overreliance” on U.S. foreign military support, which now prioritizes Asia. It recommends that the alliance adopt a wartime mindset and modernize its infrastructure, focusing on investments in critical capabilities for resilience and readiness. It said that eliminating capability gaps and building operational mass should be among the investment priorities.
The report identified another critical priority in creating a force multiplier through technology to help overcome some of Russia’s mass advantage. It suggested forming a unified NATO multidomain digital architecture for data integration and interoperability of alliance members.
Warfighting Burden-Sharing
In addition, the MITRE paper recommended that NATO produce a capability road map for sharing warfighting burden among alliance members and, where applicable, moving the U.S. warfighters’ burden to European hands to achieve threat overmatch.
In a separate report in September, MITRE urged the U.S. Department of Defense to boost international collaboration in defense acquisitions, noting that its program offices developing new military systems generally do so in isolation from allies who would fight alongside American forces.