The Canada-led NATO brigade in Latvia has moved beyond its original “tripwire” deterrence posture and is now focused on mounting a credible defense of the Baltic country bordering Russia, according to its commander, Col. Kris Reeves.
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Canada has about 2,000 troops in Latvia, and its contribution to the NATO Multinational Brigade there represents its largest overseas deployment. Alliance doctrine on the eastern flank defended by Canadian troops has shifted following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and while the tripwire logic still exists, it’s now backed militarily by forces expected to actively hold ground rather than just trigger a response and await reinforcements.
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“And even more important than that, the local population out there is now beginning to trust us and understand us, because they’re going to support us when we fight,” Reeves said. “We are, to use your term, still the tripwire force, but we’ll be even more effective by being out there quicker and understanding the terrain out there even more, and having more support.”
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For those (like me) who weren’t familiar with the term:
A tripwire force (sometimes called a glass plate) is a strategic approach in deterrence theory whereby a small force is deployed abroad with the assumption that an attack on them will trigger a greater deployment of forces.The deployment of the small force is designed to signal the defending side’s commitment to an armed response to future aggression without triggering a security spiral.