Start Archive: News & Articles

Archive: News & Articles


Portugal’s comprehensive equipment modernisation

The Portuguese Military Programming Law 2023–2034 – approved in July 2023 – seeks to provide a comprehensive boost to the modernisation of the country’s depleted armed forces by acquiring new equipment worth EUR 5.57 billion. This amount, the largest ever, foresees the acquisition of land, naval, air, cyber security, space capabilities, as well as emerging […]

Growing some backbone

The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) is forging ahead with an important overhaul of its strategic high-frequency communications. To some, it may seem an insignificant milestone, but on 9 July 2023, the UK’s Defence High Frequency Communications Service (DHFCS) celebrated its 21st birthday. The DHFCS provides a nationwide and international high frequency (HF) strategic […]

Desert fighters: Gulf air forces consolidate their combat capability

Dominated by fighter types produced by Western manufacturers, the air forces of the Gulf region remain a viable market for future fighter sales. While some Gulf states – effectively Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – have made significant moves in recent years to indigenise defence production, in the aerospace sector these efforts have […]



Combat supply operations

Military commanders have always been concerned about supplying their forces on the ground. Determining stock levels, providing, distributing, and replenishing constitute the supply function. This article focuses on combat supply operations in a NATO environment from a French perspective. Supplying armies in the field has always been a concern for military leaders – supplies include […]

The metals war has just begun

On 9 August 2022, the Biden administration signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law. The act was intended to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the US, decreasing its reliance on foreign suppliers. Since then, the global competition for semiconductor production and the supply of rare earth metals has only heated up. During President Xi Jin […]

Russia’s defence in depth and Soviet doctrine

The task of building and breaching battlefield obstacles has come sharply back into the spotlight following Ukraine’s difficulties breaking through Russian lines during their summer 2023 counter-offensive. It therefore bears examining Russia’s approach to defensive fighting, as well as the particular difficulties faced by Ukraine in overcoming the many obstacles in their path. Russia’s defences […]



The path ahead for tube and rocket artillery

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has very clearly demonstrated the continued importance of artillery – both tube and rocket – on the modern battlefield. It has also supplied real world data on what artillery can achieve today and what it needs to achieve to meet the conditions expected in the conflicts of tomorrow. Developers of […]

The greatest test for Ukraine

The capture of Avdiivka on 17 February 2024 marked a tactical and symbolic victory for Russia. Yet far more significant than the capture of the town itself was that the offensive heralded the deeply troubling trend of the return of Russian air power. As this column warned back in ESD’s January edition (see ‘Breaking the […]

Delivering the Royal Navy’s future surface fleet

The British Royal Navy is in the middle of a significant programme of fleet renewal. Two major projects are currently underway that will ultimately see the commissioning of eight Type 26 anti-submarine warfare and five Type 31 general purpose frigates. Together, they will replace over two thirds of the navy’s major surface combatants. Responsible for […]



NATO as a customer: an overview of the NSPA

The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) is NATO’s lead organisation for multinational acquisition, support, and sustainment. We strive to obtain the best capabilities across all military domains at the best value – for NATO and Allied Nations – generating economies of scale while leveraging emerging and advanced technology. The Agency also provides equipment and […]

Search and destroy: Middle East theatre stages showdown between conducting and countering UAV operations

Uncrewed capabilities have often been touted as ‘game changers’, at strategic and operational levels. The current crises and conflict across the Middle East are demonstrating how one type of uncrewed system – uncrewed air vehicles (UAVs) – can have such impact. Western militaries have for some time been working on delivering new capability and operational […]

US security aid to Ukraine falls hostage to the cult of Trump

Any potential Ukrainian progress in pushing back the country’s Russian invaders is already being threatened by political machinations in Washington, but if Donald Trump were to be re-elected president in November 2024, Kyiv’s position could be fatally compromised. As 2023 drew to a close, the administration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky must have looked with […]



Why Iran sees the Caucasus as part of the Middle East

Two exogenous events are currently reshaping the South Caucasus: the War in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. The invasion of Ukraine forced Russia to re-prioritise the significance of the region, which evolved from the backwater of its ‘near abroad’ neo-colonial space to the main logistical hub of its war economy. Russia currently works […]

NATO’s role in contemporary global security dynamics: beyond adaptability and resilience

Throughout its seven-decade history, NATO has demonstrated adaptability and resilience in overcoming diverse challenges as an international entity due to the shared values among its member states. Beyond its initial military alliance role, NATO now prioritises multilateral cooperation and adopts a multifaceted approach to tackle complex contemporary challenges. But today’s fast-changing geopolitical landscape requires the […]

Examining the French Military Programming Act 2024–2030

The ‘loi de programmation militaire’ (LPM) is a French institution. This document is discussed at length and represents the Government’s commitment to providing the military with sufficient resources for the future. LPM 24–30 will allow the French military to significantly increase its budget, reaching EUR 413.3 billion over the next seven years. Despite this considerable […]



Britain’s ‘mini-pivot’ Eastwards

Despite concerns over the potential for resumed continental warfare prompted by the Russo-Ukraine conflict and Putin’s increasingly bizarre behaviour, and over and above the apprehension over a broader conflict erupting in the Middle East, those who plan and implement Britain’s foreign policy and security strategies currently spend much of their time looking much further East […]

Reassessment of Soviet-era Weapons in the Ukraine War

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is already leading to changes in NATO’s defence concept and a reassessment of the principles of modern warfare. Ukraine’s unique experience of confronting a much larger enemy force in terms of manpower and hardware is being taken into account in this reassessment. NATO’s military strategy is changing and moving towards […]

The Expanding Market for AEW&C Solutions

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and heightened tensions along NATO’s eastern flank, coupled with multi-domain operations in the Indo-Pacific Region, have placed considerable pressure on NATO members’ ageing fleets of manned Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft. This has triggered an accelerated procurement drive not only by NATO members, but also from different customers with […]



Will Israel’s Seventh War Explode into a US-Iran Conflict?

The attack by Gaza-based Palestinian terrorist organisation Hamas against the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) guarding the border with Gaza and the ruthless massacre of civilian villagers and town residents in the southwestern Negev shocked the Israelis, who were caught off guard by the onslaught. After years of internal friction and nine months of civil unrest […]

Armenia and Azerbaijan – What Happens Next?

19 September 2023 marked the start another active military conflict, this time in Nagorno-Karabakh: between the local Armenian troops and Azerbaijan. Despite lasting only one day, the conflict led to 412 official causalities for both sides and according to the Armenian Government has led to ethnic cleansing – with practically the entire Armenian population of […]

Countering Land Mines and UXO: Old Threats and New Frontiers in Ukraine

We are well into the second year of the biggest war in Europe since the end of the Second World War. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought the issues of land mine warfare into the harsh light of day. In addition, unexploded ordnance (UXO), also referred to as ‘explosive remnants of war’ (ERW), has […]




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