The Brussels-based research institute Bruegel and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, have calculated that Europe would have to make “considerable defense investments of around €250 billion per year ... to effectively counter Russian military force,” should the U.S. withdraw militarily from Europe.
“The authors assume that Europe have to deploy around 50 additional brigades with a total of 300,000 soldiers,” they say. “For this, at least 1,400 new main battle tanks and 2,000 infantry fighting vehicles would be required, which would exceed the current stocks of the entire German, French, Italian, and British land forces. In addition, Europe would have to produce around 2,000 long-range drones every year.” But they claim this is “manageable.”