NATO without the United States would face a logistics gap

Could NATO without the United States conduct a Desert Storm-sized campaign?

The assessment allows for assembling the combat forces, but doubts that allies could match the transport and support capacity without extensive additional help.

The hypothetical coalition is assessed separately for combat strength and the capacity to move and sustain it at Desert Storm scale. Canada, Turkey, Poland, Sweden, and Finland appear among the forces considered. Additional partners could supply troops or trucks without replacing American fleets of transport aircraft, logistics ships, and maritime prepositioning ships. Extensive use of commercial shipping is suggested as one way to fill the gap. A participant raises medical evacuation as another limit; Britain, Germany, and France are credited with the capability, while its capacity would compete with other air transport demands. These are assessments made in the recorded discussion rather than a calculation of current NATO readiness.