Archive: News & Articles

A number of high-speed naval vessels currently in service are capable of speeds between 40 and 70 knots, significantly outpacing most surface combatants. Some high-speed vessels are specialised on performing particular mission profiles, while others are multi-mission craft. One characteristic that they all share is their relatively small size, with even the largest units being […]

Several Western navies are modernising their mine countermeasures capabilities with new, specialised vessels. Naval mine warfare remains a potent threat in the 21st century. The mine countermeasures (MCM) vessels of many nations are ageing and – in some cases – are in urgent need of replacement. The need to introduce new MCM vessels (MCMVs) is […]

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) have emerged as a potent new threat to military ships. This requires a re-evaluation of ship-defence technology and tactics.  For decades anti-ship missiles (ASMs) have arguably posed the dominant threat to surface vessels. However, a new, asymmetrical threat emerged in October 2000 when a small, explosive-laden […]

The future submarine operating environment The water around your submarine is reverberating due to a distant active low-frequency sonar. Every few minutes, the sonar operators report a splash point, a sign that a passive sonar buoy has been dropped by one of the numerous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) out on patrol that relentlessly hunt you […]

Underwater operations remain a core output that navies and their parent countries use to secure national interests and create international influence. Such operations are, of course, conducted covertly, with submerged platforms: this is the unique selling point, and it endures because the world’s oceans remain opaque to sensing technologies trying to see into them from […]

European naval shipyards are enjoying buoyant conditions. Numerous projects for the construction of major surface combatants – destroyers, frigates and corvettes – are now passing through the production stage, often after many years of planning and design development. The challenging international security situation is also driving opportunities for additional sales, both in Europe and across […]

A combat management system (CMS) is often referred to as a naval vessel’s ‘brain’, linking the vessel’s sensors – its ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’ – to its effectors – the ‘limbs’ that deliver the required kinetic and non-kinetic effects. Given the role of CMS in collecting data, processing this data into information, and distributing tasks and […]

Over the years, a number of different approaches to train commanders and their staffs have emerged. So-called Command and Staff Training (CAST) exercises featuring maps, counters and dice have been supplemented with computer-aided exercises (CAX), while more recently, games-based solutions are being offered. The challenge facing the military today is what solution, or solutions, should […]

One of the Vice Presidents at Lockheed Martin is Jeff ‘Cobra’ Harrigian, Commander of the US Air Force in Europe (USAFE) until 2022, with 4,100 hours on F-22, F-15C and A/OA-37. Now he is responsible for ‘Strategic Campaigns’ at the world’s largest defence contractor. On the sidelines of AIRPOWER-24, ESD spoke to him about the […]

While current plans a focused on providing the Ukrainian Air Force with F-16s, the Swedish government has started to put money behind the potential supply of Gripens to Kyiv. When Ukraine’s West European allies set about bolstering the Ukrainian Air Force (Povitryani syly Zbroynykh syl Ukrayiny; PS ZSU), to develop the air threat to Russian forces […]

On 29 September 2024, Austria held national elections. The challenge for the new government will be to start and set aside billions of dollars to replace the mixture of fifteen early T1-B2R-B5 Eurofighter Typhoon single-seaters flown by the Luftstreitkräfte. Their primary goal, which has been internally blocked for the last year, is to acquire 12 […]

Special Operations Forces (SOF) worldwide can choose from a wide array of aircraft for covert insertion, exfiltration and resupply, with new technologies being integrated into current and developmental platforms to enhance performance and survivability. SOF transport aircraft fall into various categories based on type, range, size and performance parameters. The vast majority are specially modified […]

Much attention has been lavished on Russia’s strategic cyberwarfare waged against Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure. Russia’s use of cyberwarfare at tactical and operational levels, particularly in the land domain, receives less coverage, but has important implications for NATO and its Allies. London’s Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) thinktank recently published a paper by Daniel Black, […]

Driven in large part by the increasing proliferation of drones and loitering munitions, recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in very short-range/short-range air defence (V/SHORAD). This article examines recent developments in the field of V/SHORAD radars, as well as the direction these innovations are taking, and their growing significance on the modern battlefield. […]

A rapidly-changing strategic landscape demands additional flexibility from global and regional actors. President Biden’s mantra in his first days in the White House – “America is back” – indicated the renewed involvement of the USA in world affairs. It also meant that the US modus operandi as the most advanced actor in the great power […]

Over the past two years of war in Ukraine, a fairly broad consensus has emerged that small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), along with loitering munitions and low-cost alternatives such as first-person view (FPV) drones have drastically increased the risks to armoured vehicles on the battlefield. Given their low costs and high numbers, there is general […]

When the US Army terminated its Future Attack and Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) effort in early 2024, beyond cancelling an individual programme, the decision might also have indicated that the sun may have set on the armed reconnaissance helicopter as a viable type for the 21st century battlefield. On 8 February 2024 the US Army announced […]

Western nations continue to develop ground-launched hypersonic weapon systems (HWS). However, despite some incremental success, testing and fielding have progressed more slowly than anticipated. By definition, hypersonic weapons travel at speeds greater than Mach 5 (1,715 m/s). While there are many weapons which meet this definition, such as ballistic missiles, the ‘hypersonic’ label is primarily […]

The US Army continues to (mostly) make progress with its core set of priority modernisation programmes, although it has made some adjustments to accommodate both technological challenges and budgetary constraints. In 2017, the Army identified 31 modernisation efforts as top priority programmes essential for military transformation. Subsequently another four development and acquisition programmes were added […]

The US Army is developing a modular robotic combat vehicle that is comparatively light and manoeuvrable, while still suitable for a variety of missions. The Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) Campaign Plan was established in January 2019 to develop a family of three armed uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) of varying size and with distinct capability and […]

In September 2024, ESD got the chance to conduct an interview with Bell Textron Inc. personnel. The interview was conducted by Ian Frain. ESD: Congratulations on recent achievements in both the military (Milestone B for the V-280 Valor/FLRAA,) and parapublic marketplace (Bell 505 and Bell 407Gxi to law enforcement agencies) – how would you sum […]