NATO Official: New Weapons Systems Make Western Countries Vulnerable

The development of new weapons systems, including long-range missiles and drones, puts Western countries in a vulnerable position as they can no longer wage wars far from their borders without worrying about the security of their own territory, the Business Insider portal said, citing NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe John Stringer.

According to Stringer, modern long-range missiles, drones, and sabotage threats make it possible to hit facilities that once were considered out of reach. For the United Kingdom, that meant "we deployed 2,000 or 3,000 miles off the UK, fought and then we'd come back to a very secure rear area called the United Kingdom," he said. "Those days, sadly, are also gone."

The Ukrainian conflict has exposed the scale of the threat stemming from the mass use of long-range drones and missile, the portal noted. In future, NATO will have to think of defending not isolated facilities but the security of the entire European continent, Stinger added.