Troopers assigned to Reaper Troop, 4th Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, drive their M1134 Anti-Tank Guided Missile Vehicle to it's firing position during the squadron's live-fire exercise at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, located near Rose Barracks, Germany, March 15, 2016. (U.S. Army/Sgt. William A. Tanner)
A four-person vehicle crew with the U.S. Army's 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Europe won a personal victory in early February 2019 when they beat out other crews to claim their squadron's "top gun" prize.
But the crew's achievement underscores an uncomfortable fact for the U.S. Army as it struggles to match Russia's own military build-up in Europe.
A member of Battery C, 1-174 Air Defense Artillery Regiment with a Stinger missile during Combined Resolve XI at Hohenfels Training Area, Germany, December 7, 2018. (U.S. Army/Charles Rosemond)
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
The U.S. military is shifting its focus toward preparing for great-power conflict, and on the ground in Europe, where heightened tensions with Russia have a number of countries worried about renewed conflict.
That includes new attention to short-range air-defense — a capability needed against an adversary that could deploy ground-attack aircraft, especially helicopters, and contest control of the air during a conflict.
A non-nuclear war between NATO and Russia could pit bombers, aircraft carriers and submarines against each other along Europe's cold northern frontier, according to one new study.
A pilot with the California Air National Guard was killed on Tuesday when a Ukrainian SU-27B fighter crashed during the Clear Sky exercises in western Ukraine, officials have announced.
Poland, which has had a Russian boot on its windpipe for much of its history, wants U.S. troops to build a big military installation in its country — and the Pentagon is proceeding cautiously.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis called bullsh*t on a report that claimed he'd been dispatched to make nice with skittish NATO allies following President Donald Trump's aggressive two-day summit with European leaders, calling the suggestion that the Pentagon had entered "damage control" mode as "fiction"
