Archive: News & Articles

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

In a nutshell, friendly relations between Georgia and Turkey are not a deterrent against potential Russian aggression against Georgia. Russia can always impose a blockade of Georgia’s Black Sea coast by using its naval assets in Sevastopol, Crimea and Ochamchire in occupied Abkhazia, thereby effectively ‘strangling’ the nascent Georgian Coast Guard. However, despite being somewhat […]

NATO is the most successful military alliance in modern history, but it is being put to the test. Three recent conflicts—the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (2020), the Israel–Hamas conflict (2021), and the ongoing Russia–Ukraine War (2022–) — provide valuable lessons concerning the methods of the next war. The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War has been called the first […]

This article looks briefly at some of the threats to world peace from nuclear weapons in today’s geopolitically explosive world. These threats have brought us to the edge of a very dangerous abyss. It also touches upon nuclear deterrence as the option favoured by Western powers and the Alliance, bolstered by strength and nuclear options […]

To offset the emerging, but now enduring, threat to seabed critical underwater infrastructure (CUI), navies are looking to build CUI security through co-operating on information sharing and operational responses. Innovative technology and information analysis are playing a key role in enhancing such cooperation and response. The explosions suffered by the two Nordstream gas pipelines on […]

This author’s original intention was to uncover some positive trends within the British Army at a time where it has repeatedly come under fire for various failures. However, this task has proven quite challenging. Finding positive narratives at the current time requires a deep faith in the soundness of the institution and a willingness to […]

So far in 2023, Canada has signed up for some major high-value procurement programmes, while working on existing high-value procurements, and is already laying the groundwork for future major procurements. In terms of high-value procurement programmes, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) started 2023 with the announcement that it would be purchasing 88 Lockheed Martin […]

History teaches us that all militaries, even the strongest and the most modern ones, almost as a rule, are preparing for ‘the previous war’. Experiences from the current war in Ukraine are showing that military conflict on European soil between peer competitors is fought on completely different principles than those predicted and prepared for in […]

The War in Ukraine and a general increase in military spending is pushing several countries to modernise their ageing naval fleets, thus boosting the order books of shipyards after years of negative outlook. If this is good news, the situation remains complicated within the EU, where shipbuilders’ economic outlook is less prosperous compared with Asian […]

There is over a century of broad amity between the United States and the United Kingdom. The defence and security alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom is, indeed, a special one. Americans and Britons fought alongside each other in two world wars, Korea, and several conflicts in the Middle East. Both were […]

On 18 July 2023 the United Kingdom released a long-awaited Defence Command Paper setting out how the British Armed Forces will adapt to the lessons of the Russo-Ukrainian War. Limited by financial realities, the new document is long on words but short on tangible detail. Nevertheless, the measures it contains offer the prospect of a […]

In August 2023, ESD interviewed the Honourable James Cartlidge MP, Minister for Defence Procurement (MinDP) at the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD). The interview was conducted by Mark Cazalet and Stephen Barnard. At the June House of Commons Defence Committee (HCDC) hearing, MinDP said there are “positive changes happening” regarding defence procurement. What are these […]

Electronic Warfare (EW) in Ukraine has been a critical enabler for both sides of the war in Ukraine, with each scrambling to adapt to modern battlefield possibilities within the electromagnetic spectrum. This domain has been used for a variety of purposes, including gathering information, target locating/positioning, disruption, deception, and even downing UAVs. While EW has […]

In this article, Ian Frain examines some of the heavy-lift helicopter programmes from the recent past and present. Currently, there are only four heavy-lift platforms in the world. The twin-engine, eight-blade Russian Helicopters Mil Mi-26, NATO reporting name Halo, is the largest helicopter currently in service, since the late 1980s. Then there is the three-engine, […]

In a worsening missile threat environment, the need for comprehensive and technologically superior ballistic missile defence (BMD) is more important for western allies now, than at any other time in world history. The US and its NATO allies have a great responsibility to protect their respective populations in what are, probably, the most dangerous geopolitical […]

Throughout history, the pace of the battlefield has always increased in line with technology. As in the last century, and as foreseen for the near future, progress in technology for military rotary aircraft, will focus on carrying capacity, weapons, and the capability to cover long distances. European Legacy Craft The battlefield utility rotorcraft platforms currently […]

As tensions continue to rise across the globe, it has never been more important for NATO member countries to ensure that their armed forces are properly trained and stand ready to defeat potential adversaries. This is NATO’s Joint Force Training Centre (JFTC), located in Bydgoszcz, Poland, principle objective. JFTC’s state-of-the-art facility plays a key role […]