New national security strategy has ‘warfighting' in all domains: US Defense Secy Austin

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin on Saturday noted that the Defense Ministry has been drafting a new National Defense Strategy based on the 'idea of integrated deterrence' as Washington's allies face Russian aggression in Eastern Europe and on the Ukrainian border. Speaking in Warsaw, Poland, where he was visiting US rotational combat units and Polish troops at Powidz Air Base, Austin said that Washington's new National Defense Strategy "will address major threats to our security," adding "It'll also address major threats to the international rules-based order." 

The US defence secretary reiterated that the 'integrated deterrence' is a driving idea for the document, which may be released later for the press. The deterrence strategy will be a key piece in the face of the Russian military aggression, said Austin, further noting that it will imply using all of the capabilities in all warfighting domains: Air, land, sea, space, and cyber. "It also includes using every instrument of national power: diplomatic, economic, judicial, and so on," he said while speaking at the Powidz Air Base with the American and Polish troops. 

"The most important, [integrated deterrence means] using the capability and capacity that's resident in our partners and allies," US defense secretary Lloyd Austin informed. 

"So, what you see today, actually playing out is exactly that. You're seeing us [US] lead with diplomacy. You've seen us work very, very carefully with our allies and partners to share information, and to also move very, very quickly and deliberately to help reassure and reinforce wherever required," Austin emphasized. 

'Mr. Putin will see stronger NATO on his flank': US Defense Secretary Austin 

In a dire warning to Russia, the US defence secretary stated: "What Mr. Putin did not want to see happen was a stronger NATO on his flank, and that's exactly what he will see." He then acknowledged the Polish soldiers, who fought alongside US forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The military units of both nations [US and Poland] "are integrated together and work and train together," Army Lt. Gen. John S. Kolasheski, the commander of US V Corps said. Austin also told Polish troops, "whenever we place an American soldier somewhere, it demonstrates our resolve." 

"Any Russian attack or further incursion into Ukraine would not only ignite conflict, it would also violate the bedrock principles of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and self-determination," Austin said.

"The deployment of thousands of Russian forces in Belarus — in addition to the thousands surrounding Ukraine to the east and south — puts some of those forces within 200 miles of the Polish border." 

Poland hosts more than 4,000 enduring, rotational US military personnel — the fourth-largest concentration of US forces in Europe. Poland, according to the US defence secretary, is a leader of the frontline states working with the Baltic republics to enhance readiness and defend the easternmost allies. Austin's trip came as Russia has amassed over 130,000 military troops on the frontier with Ukraine and Washington fears that "a threat of war is "imminent."