NATO lacks resilience to fight a long war, naval chief warns

BRUSSELS – NATO militaries currently lack the resilience for a protracted conflict, the alliance’s top maritime commander warned, reinforcing concern that Europe isn’t yet prepared for a long-term confrontation with Russia.

Vice-Admiral Mike Utley, who is with the UK’s Royal Navy and leads the bloc’s Allied Maritime Command, said in an interview that Western armed forces need to prepare for a more complicated battlefield ranging from cyber to military threats.

He said the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) had superior capabilities to Russia, but not necessarily the ability to maintain through a period of sustained fighting. 

“Have we got the resilience that we would wish to have? I think the commentary over the last 10 months has shown that, no, we haven’t,” Vice-Adm Utley told Bloomberg.

“But nations have very much recognised that and are prepared to invest in those capability sets to grow our resilience.”

Senior European security officials have been sounding the alarm about the need to prepare for the possibility of conflict with Russia, as Moscow ramps up hybrid attacks on Europe.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said last week that “Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years” and said the alliance “must be prepared for the scale of war
our grandparents or great-grandparents endured”.

On Dec 15, the new heads of Britain’s intelligence services and armed forces issued similar warnings, with MI6 chief Blaise Metreweli saying the Europe was “operating in a space between peace and war”.

Chief of the Defence Staff Richard Knighton said separately that more Britons needed to be prepared to fight for their country.

US President Donald Trump’s push to fast-track peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine has renewed worries that the US president wants to shift his focus away from Europe.

This is even though the continent’s leaders are hopeful that critical provisions in the Congress-backed National Defence Authorisation Act will make it difficult for the US to withdraw troops and key weapons systems from the region.

Even if a ceasefire is reached, Western security officials assess that Russian President Vladimir Putin will continue fighting in Ukraine and launching hybrid attacks elsewhere.

While all NATO members except Spain agreed in 2025 to spend at least 3.5 per cent of economic output on core defence programmes and another 1.5 per cent on related areas by 2035, they’ve been slower to allocate the money.

Britain, where Vice-Adm Utley started his military career in 1988, has delayed the release of its own defence investment plan until 2026.

Still, Vice-Adm Utley said NATO investment would match up to its spectrum of challenges “over time”.

“I am a realist – money is difficult and there are lots of competing priorities for all our allies on how they spend their taxpayers’ money,” he said.

“I’m not going to pretend that defence should have every penny to spend on every single capability that’s available. It’s about prioritisation.” 

Meanwhile, the Russian military continues to probe NATO’s frontiers – sending its ships into British waters and unveiling its latest submarine capable of carrying Poseidon torpedo drones.

Mr Putin has said the nuclear-powered weapon evaded interception in recent tests.

NATO launched its “Baltic Sentry” operation earlier in 2025 to bolster its presence and better protect critical undersea infrastructure by integrating frigates, maritime patrol aircraft and naval drones.

The combination of data and new technologies being developed to detect suspicious activity, coupled with warships and other military assets, allows NATO to respond more nimbly whenever a threat is established.

Although this kind of cat-and-mouse activity between Russian and NATO vessels may be reminiscent of the Cold War, Vice-Adm Utley said things were far more complicated now because of how interdependent the world has become.

That means that vulnerable assets include technology, supply chains and intellectual property rights. Russian cooperation with countries such as China, Iran and North Korea only make the task harder. 

“This challenge is going to get more complicated, more persistent and isn’t going to go away,” Vice-Adm Utley said. “It’s genuinely a very different battle space.”

NATO in 2025 published a new maritime strategy, setting out its vision to increase resilience in this domain, supported by industrial cooperation with the capacity to produce munitions stockpiles at pace.

The last such strategy, which was published in 2011 and primarily focused on countering fundamentalist terrorism, quickly became outdated after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. 

The new strategy lists Russia and terrorism as NATO’s two biggest threats and highlights transatlantic security concerns perpetuated by the so-called shadow fleet of vessels and Russia’s own surveillance of Europe’s undersea infrastructure. 

The strategy also states that China “poses systemic challenges” to the region due to its rapidly expanding naval capabilities, as well as its broader military buildup and presence in the Arctic and so-called high north.

The “deepening strategic partnership” between Beijing and Moscow is also of concern to NATO, which sees China as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Despite his reservations on current preparedness for a sustained conflict, Vice-Adm Utley said he believes NATO members are making the commitments they need to. 

“Do I think it’s going in the right direction? Absolutely. Yes, because it is,” he said. BLOOMBERG