海角大神

The聽US will spread about 250 tanks, armored vehicles, and other聽military聽equipment across six former Soviet bloc nations to help reassure NATO allies facing threats from Russia and terrorist groups, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Tuesday.

Carter's announcement, made as he stood with defense chiefs from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, comes a day after he announced that the聽US would have other weapons, aircraft, and forces, including commandos, ready as needed for NATO's new rapid reaction force, to help Europe defend against potential Russian aggression from the east and the Islamic State and other violent extremists from the south.

The defense chiefs standing with Carter all spoke bluntly about the threat they perceive from Russia, and the latest聽military聽plans provide a show of solidarity across the region and in NATO.

Estonia Defense Minister Sven Mikser said the Baltic leaders aren't trying to restart the Cold War arms race or match Russian President Vladimir Putin "tank for tank," but the additional聽military聽presences will be a deterrent to Russia and could change the calculus.

"In global terms Russia is no match conventionally to聽US or to NATO, but here in our corner of the world, Putin believes that he enjoys regional superiority," Mikser said, adding that Estonia is eager and ready to accept the聽equipment聽immediately.

Each set of聽equipment聽would be enough to outfit a聽military聽company or battalion, and would go on at least a temporary basis to Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania. Carter said the聽equipment聽could be moved around the region for training and聽military聽exercises, and would include Bradley fighting vehicles and self-propelled howitzer artillery guns.

Germany will be participating in the expanded聽military聽effort, but already has聽US equipment.

"We intend to move those聽equipment聽sets around as exercises move around," Carter told a news conference. "They're not static. Their purpose is to enable richer training and more mobility to forces in Europe." He said the聽US presence will be "persistent" but "agile," and he said the troops will be able to stay at a higher state of readiness.

But while the stated goal of the move is that American forces moving in and out of Europe will be better able to do training, it also would allow NATO nations to more quickly respond to any聽military聽crisis in the region.

Later in the day, Russia was also on the minds of聽US sailors and Marines aboard the USS San Antonio, which just finished up a major annual international聽military聽exercise on the Baltic Sea called BALTOPS.

The exercise, which involved some 60 ships from 17 NATO nations, is part of the stepped-up campaign to increase聽military聽training and activities in the region as a deterrent to Russia.

Troops quizzed Carter on聽US relations with Russia and questioned whether the聽US might聽put聽a greater maritime presence in the region.

The聽US military聽"is highly, highly visible here in Europe, it's reassuring for them to see you," he said, "because of what you stand for."

The聽US, said Carter, is also going to work with NATO's cyber center, located in Estonia, to help allies develop cyber defense strategies and other protections against computer-based attacks. Russian hackers have become particularly adept, including breaking into聽U. State Department computers.

The聽countries聽for the聽equipment聽storage were chosen based on their proximity to training ranges, to reduce the time and cost of transporting it for exercises.

The two-pronged聽US plan 鈥� with the placement of聽equipment聽in Europe and the commitment of resources for NATO's very high readiness task force 鈥� underscore America's commitment to helping allies counter growing threats on Europe's eastern and southern fronts.

U.S. and NATO allies have criticized Russia for its increasingly aggressive actions, including the annexation of Crimea and its backing of separatist troops on Ukraine's eastern border.

Under the plan to commit troops and resources if needed during a crisis, the聽US could see a temporary increase in American troops in Europe, although many could be reassigned from bases already in the region. No聽US troops or聽equipment聽will move immediately.

Carter said the聽US, if requested and approved, would be willing to provide intelligence and surveillance capabilities, special operations forces, logistics, transport aircraft, and a range of weapons support that could include bombers, fighters and ship-based missiles. It would not provide a large ground force.