Archive: News & Articles

Training any modern air force to allow it to deliver the optimal military effect is an expensive process. This is epitomised in the provision of live aggressor aircraft and associated resources to replicate the actions of an expected hostile air force. This aggressor force must mirror an enemy’s techniques, tactics and procedures (TTP) and where […]

Within the last two decades the airlift capabilities of Europe’s air forces have been – and continue to be – significantly renewed and enhanced, but with high-intensity conflict having returned to Europe since 2022, questions remain as to whether this rejuvenation goes far enough. Less than two decades ago Europe’s air forces effectively had no […]

Battlefield electromagnetic deception is a vital means to sow doubt into hostile decision-making, and force enemies to divide their assets; tactics that are at the heart of the Spartacus initiative. The United States Army’s First US Army Group, better known as FUSAG, was a formidable outfit: FUSAG contained two armies, the British 4th and the […]

Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, followed by Azerbaijani offensives on Armenian territory and Nagorno-Karabakh in 2022 and 2023, marked a turning point in the country’s defence strategy. These conflicts exposed critical weaknesses in the Armenian army, which remained largely reliant on outdated Soviet and Russian weaponry. This dependence on Russian arms and logistical […]

Thaon di Revel is an Offshore Patrol Vessel of the Italian Navy. Within the Marina Militare, she is classified as a multipurpose Offshore Patrol Vessel or Pattugliatore Polivalente d’Altura, PPA.   CDR Chericoni, you must be proud to be in command of ITS Thaon di Revel. Equipped with the latest generation of modular and scalable […]

In December 2024, a first live tracking of an airborne object was achieved for Lockheed Martin’s AN/SPY-7(V)2 solid-state, fixed-face, S-band (NATO E/F-band) radar, being developed as part of the Spanish Navy’s F-110 frigate programme. The testing – conducted at the US company’s Moorestown, New Jersey facility – used a single-face variant, instantiated in an engineering development model […]

Türkiye’s ambition to modernise its armed forces and achieve greater self-sufficiency in defence products is most clearly evident in its naval shipbuilding industry. In January 2025, the Turkish Ministry of Defence announced that 31 warships were in various stages of construction for the Turkish Naval Forces, spanning nine different projects. These projects cover a broad […]

The Romanian Navy has seen only limited investment since the Cold War’s end. Accordingly, the deteriorating security situation and increasing defence expenditure has driven plans for wholesale modernisation. However, prioritisation given to other branches of the Romanian Armed Forces and, notably, difficulties in concluding acquisition contracts have meant that, to date, only limited progress has […]

Intended to replace and expand the capacity provided by the German Navy’s existing F124 Sachsen class air defence frigates, the F127 frigate programme will deliver up to six new major surface combatants from the mid-2030s onwards. The project has been gathering momentum over recent months and important decisions on its future direction are imminent. This […]

The US Navy faces several fundamental, interrelated challenges as it tries to shape the fleet it will have in the mid-21st century and beyond. [1] These issues are not unique to the United States, but are common to many democratic nations across Europe and East Asia. The US Navy’s ability to acquire new ships is […]

Objectively speaking, the US Navy remains the world’s most powerful maritime force. However, it faces a determined challenge from a fast-growing Chinese fleet. The Trump administration has promised early steps to address the shortfall in American shipbuilding capacity. Adjustments to naval force structure are also expected, although these plans are still being developed. Background Donald […]

As part of the Military Programming Law 2023-2034 approved in July 2023 the Portuguese Army (Exército Português) is undergoing a major modernisation effort aimed strengthening its capabilities in several key domains. The operational structure of the Portuguese Army is principally comprised of the Rapid Reaction Brigade, the Intervention Brigade, the Mechanised Brigade, the General Support and Military Emergency Forces, and three overseas infantry battalions. Despite limited budget resources and […]

Spain is pursuing an ambitious modernisation programme for its land forces, aiming to ensure they meet the demands of future battlefields by 2035. However, financial constraints may hinder these plans. So far, there are no indications that Spain will increase its defence spending. Funding military modernisation requires substantial financial resources, and Spain is not among […]

Prior to the 2024 US election, Donald Trump claimed it would take him “one day” to end the War in Ukraine. Yet as the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term have slipped by, a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow still seems like a remote prospect. At the time of writing in late-April […]

While Greek defence procurement has been somewhat of a mixed bag in recent years, the Greek Ministry of National Defence (MND) is on the cusp of embarking on a major new modernisation plan. According to NATO’s latest figures for member states’ defence spending estimates as a percentage of GDP (the cut-off date for data of […]

The German/Norwegian combined submarine programme to deliver the Type 212 Common Design (T212CD) diesel-electric submarine (SSK) for the German Navy and Royal Norwegian Navy (RNoN) remains on track to deliver a first boat into service in 2029, programme officials told the Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) conference in Oslo in March. Moreover, the increasing challenge presented […]

The last three years have seen navies involved in the most intensive maritime conflict of recent decades. The outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War in February 2022, followed by the commencement of attacks on Red Sea shipping by rebel Houthi forces in Yemen in November 2023, have provided ‘real world’ evidence of the impact of technological […]

The Portuguese Navy has been leading the way amongst NATO navies in developing maritime uncrewed system (MUS) technologies. Now, including at the national level, it is seeking to accelerate delivery of these systems into integrated maritime multidomain operations (MDO). The drive towards tactical integration of MUS technology is proceeding under the leadership of Portugal’s new […]

In mid-January 2025, NATO stood up ‘Baltic Sentry’, an activity designed to build surveillance presence to deter increasing threats to critical undersea infrastructure (CUI) on the Baltic seabed. This move is one of several national, multinational, and wider NATO activities that have been established and integrated to address the Baltic CUI threat. CUI vulnerability has […]

The last few decades have been difficult for the Polish submarine force. Despite many plans to modernise the Polish submarine fleet, the Polish Navy currently has only one diesel-electric submarine (SSK) – the ex-Soviet Kilo class ORP Orzeł. This vessel is ageing and has not undergone extensive modernisation, meaning its combat capabilities are very limited. […]

Canada continues to invest in its submarine capability, to offset increasing underwater threats in its areas of responsibility and interest and to build more operational output, as it transitions from its current boats to a planned new fleet under the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project. The submarine remains a pre-eminent naval – and national – instrument […]