Archive: News & Articles

More than six decades after the M109 entered service and following a series of cancelled replacement programmes costing billions, the US Army is once again seeking a new self-propelled artillery system, but the path forward remains uncertain. At the Association of the US Army (AUSA) exposition in Washington, DC, in October 2025 numerous artillery system […]

Russia’s defence industry has seen a dramatic transformation since the 2008 ‘New Look Reforms’ and especially since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Once dependent on foreign machine tools and regular state orders, it is now operating under wartime conditions, massively expanding its missile, drone, and ammunition production. This article looks at how […]

Western militaries face an acute shortage of complex weapons while confronting numerically superior adversaries. Multifunctional interceptors offer an appealing solution – yet the reality of engineering missiles to excel in multiple roles proves more challenging than theory suggests. The question of whether complex weapons should become more multifunctional is a subject of considerable discussion. In […]

The UK’s deployment of its carrier strike group (CSG) on the CSG25 deployment has demonstrated a subtle but significant shift in UK geostrategic emphasis. It has also underscored once more the wider utility of the UK’s carrier strike capability in supporting UK geostrategic aims, however they may shift. Arguments aimed at the UK’s carrier programme […]

Poland continues to modernise its armed forces, but the process is increasingly challenged by structural issues, particularly financial constraints. In 2024, total defence spending reached EUR 32.4 billion, marking a 23% increase compared to 2023. According to local outlet Dziennik Zbrojny, while the government had planned to allocate 4.2% of GDP to defence in 2024, […]

Air-to-air refuelling (AAR) is vital to projecting and sustaining combat air power, especially in high-intensity conflicts. The US Air Force’s 100th Air Refuelling Wing, therefore, is at the forefront of tactical changes in Europe that aim to ensure fuel – and therefore combat air power – remain available wherever, and whenever they are required. Air-to-air […]

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 […]