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About Deter and Defend

NATO is a defensive alliance whose members are committed to safeguarding the freedom and security of all Allies, against all threats, from all directions. Deterrence and defence is one of NATO’s core tasks. The Alliance deters aggression by maintaining a credible deterrence and defence posture based on an appropriate mix of nuclear, conventional and missile defence capabilities, complemented by space and cyber capabilities. Allies are significantly strengthening the deterrence and defence of the Alliance as the backbone to their Article 5 commitment to defending each other.

• Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine poses the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades, shattering peace in Europe and reinforcing the need for NATO to ensure that its deterrence and defence posture remains credible and effective.
• In response, NATO has undertaken the biggest reinforcement of its collective defence in a generation, significantly increasing the number of forces on its eastern flank and enhancing its ability to rapidly reinforce any Ally that comes under threat.
• This reinforcement includes:
  • doubling the number of multinational battlegroups on NATO’s eastern flank from four to eight;
  • regularly exercising the scaling up of forward land forces beyond the battalion-size battlegroups to brigade-size units, when and where required;
  • ensuring that in-place, combat-ready forces are supported by rapidly available reinforcements, prepositioned equipment, and enhanced command and control;
  • creating a new NATO Force Model, which provides a larger pool of available and ready forces, improving NATO’s ability to respond to any scenario, including at very short notice;
  • adopting the most comprehensive and detailed defence plans since the Cold War, improving the coherence of NATO’s collective defence planning with Allies’ national planning;
  • approving a rotational model of modern air and missile defence systems and capabilities;
  • developing a new policy for improving logistics support to move, reinforce, supply and sustain forces;
  • acquiring new and modern equipment, including through joint procurement initiatives and increased investment in defence industrial production;
  • integrating Finland and Sweden and their capabilities into the Alliance’s plans, forces and command structures;
  • strengthening the protection of critical undersea infrastructure;
  • enhancing NATO’s space, cyber, and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) defence capabilities;
  • conducting more frequent and large-scale training and exercises to demonstrate NATO’s ability to defend any Ally that comes under threat.

• In support of all these measures, Allies have made considerable progress in increasing defence spending, including investments in major equipment, taking steps towards fairer burden-sharing within NATO. In 2024, 23 Allies are expected to meet or exceed the target of investing at least 2% of Gross Domestic Product in defence, compared to only three Allies in 2014.
• NATO’s ongoing adaptation is driven by two key military concepts: the Concept for Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area focuses on force employment to deter and defend today, while the NATO Warfighting Capstone Concept offers a vision to guide the Alliance's long-term warfare development to remain militarily strong now and in the future.