Customs delays, weak bridges, unsuitable roads, rail-gauge breaks and incomplete signalling systems continue to constrain movement, although EU and NATO initiatives such as ‘Military Schengen’, priority corridors and CEF-funded projects are useful steps. 

CRITICAL SUSTAINMENT GAPS PERSIST 

NATO lacks sufficient fuel distribution to the eastern flank, medical-evacuation capacity for high-intensity war, strategic and tactical lift, heavy-armour rail capacity and mobile bridging. 

GERMANY: THE DECISIVE HUB FOR REINFORCING THE EASTERN FLANK

Any Article 5 contingency would require large numbers of NATO troops, equipment and supplies to transit Germany. Berlin has begun planning seriously for this role, but rail, road, bridge and inland-waterway infrastructure still need major investment. 

NATO SUPPORT TO UKRAINE PROVES COMPETENCE, NOT SURVIVABILITY

Support to Ukraine has demonstrated that NATO can run sustained logistics into a live conflict zone at scale. But NATO operates in a permissive rear, free from interdiction, electronic warfare or strikes on its hubs, currently making this a test of institutional competence, not of whether that support can survive contact. 

EXERCISES SHOW NATO’S DEVELOPMENT AND LIMITATIONS

Recent exercises have shown that NATO can move and command large forces at scale, but have also exposed the vulnerability of concentrated forces and logistics nodes to sensors, UAVs and precision strikes.