Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 2:46:09-2:48:00

A Baltic bastion must secure NATO sea use

A Baltic bastion differs from the Atlantic concept because NATO must move merchant shipping and supplies through waters it can already deny to Russia.

Baltic Sea StrategyFrigatesNATOSea ControlSea DenialSea Lines Of Communication
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Question

Would a Baltic bastion built by Poland and neighboring NATO countries be useful?

Short answer

Yes, but its central task is protecting NATO's own shipping and supply routes across the Baltic, not simply denying the sea to Russia.

Notes

Excluding Russia from the Baltic and making the sea usable for NATO are different tasks. Mines, submarines, and aircraft can deny an opponent access. Merchant shipping still needs protected local sea control, air defence, and surface escorts to carry supplies to the Baltic states. Swedish and Polish frigate purchases therefore support sea lines of communication and regional logistics as well as fleet combat.