EU rapid reaction force deployed in FYROM

[Crown]

The BBC reports here and here

Now fist of we must take anything with 'rapid reaction' that comes from the EU with a grain of salt. Having said that however it will be interesting to see if the EU could royally screw up something which NATO's KFOR force has managed to keep control of for a very long while.

The major difference(s) between EUfor (*sigh*) and KFOR is essentially very little. KFOR was primarily staffed by European elements of NATO anyway, and EUfor will still be reliant on some NATO assets initially and in the end it falls under the jurasdiction of the NATO commander anyway.

However the real difference is that the EU will be in charge of this (politically). So far it appears that the rift between the EU members over Iraq is not playing any kind of role with EU policy at it's doorstep. The real question is this; should things actually get FUBARed (by antogonists using the change-over to their advantage), will EUfor collapse under the weight of the bureucratic mammoth that is the EU, or will sound military minds prevail?

[Sea Skimmer]

European armies are very short of high level C4i equipment, while NATO has plenty of such gear and more importantly trained personal. The force cant move very fast, it lacks the aircraft to bring in light or medium forces quickly, and sealift is slow as shit. The only sealift which you could even begin to call rapid are the eight Ro-Ro SL-7’s the US has, which when combined can haul 97% of an armored division in one lift at 33 knots. And they still take days to load. Those eight vessels hauled 11% of all cargo and equipment the coalition deployed to the gulf during Desert shield and Desert Storm.

Eruope is stuck with chartering ships with a fraction of the capacity and half the speed.

[Oberleutnant]

We already have our scapegoat if something goes horribly wrong: "French in charge."

Ok, that was my first and last Frenchie joke. Just couldn't resist the opportunity.


Macedonia is a relatively easy operation, but I doubt the fledging EU Rapid Deployment Force is capable of anything bigger. Perhaps in a few years, but not yet. Some of the problems regarding the lack of sufficent airlift capability will be remedied once the A400s enter service.

[Col. Crackpot]

An EU Rapid Reaction Force? Let me guess, is this the rapid deployment force that has quickly worked it's way through the EU red tape to deal with the growing problem of the Soviet Union?