Archive: News & Articles

Mobile artillery is characterised by substantial firepower, always associated with significant mobility. This article focusses on mobile artillery, including: 81 mm and 120 mm mortars 105 mm light howitzers heavier 155 mm howitzers During the First World War, the opposing armies engaged in self-propelled artillery trials. In 1924, the technical section of the French Army […]

Success in future conflicts depends on the ability to analyse the trends found in today’s wars. By examining the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, and the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian War, we can gain valuable insights concerning the methods of warfare. The following observations provide insights that can help leaders prepare for future threats. On 24 February 2022, the Russians […]

Rucksack, knapsack, packsack, pack, Haversack, or Bergen – whatever term you use, it’s simply a bag to put on your back, with two shoulder straps, often with many pockets or several compartments. You call it, it is the simplest way to carry your gear easily, safely and over long distances. Large backpacks, used to carry loads […]

To strengthen its artillery capabilities, Ukraine is set to receive further 155 mm Self-Propelled Howitzers (SPHs), consisting of CAESAR 8×8 SPHs from France and Zuzana 2 SPHs from Slovakia. The German Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg) announced on Sunday that, following the 11 August Copenhagen Donor Conference, the delivery of 16 Zuzana 2 wheeled self-propelled […]

In the light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NATO has drawn up and announced its New Strategic Concept, which, amongst many things, reaffirms existing alliance values and its assurance of collective defence underpinned by credible and rapidly available reinforcements, enhanced command and control and, crucially, pre-positioned equipment. For any troops deploying to a distant theatre […]

For the past six months, tensions have been mounting across the globe and European security is facing new realities. Threats to both Taiwan from China and to Ukraine from Russia have been increasing simultaneously in recent months. As we can see, one threat has already manifested in the form of a large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine […]

With the accession of Finland and Sweden into NATO, some of the previous restrictions on defence will be removed as the alliance will be able to cover large swathes of the North. Further militarisation of the region is ongoing. In the defensive paradigm of NATO, the North is a complex area with several important areas […]

The overwhelming narrative in European defence and security is the war in Ukraine. In military affairs, the best news involving CBRN is that, in fact, there has been no news in CBRN. The ongoing conflict has not seen the use of CBRN weapons or materials. The handful of reported incidents have, so far, been erroneous reporting or […]

According to the latest ‘UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations’ tabular data published by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 9 September 2021, the British Army currently operates a total of 89 AS90 155 mm/L39 self-propelled guns. Unfortunately, the reality is somewhat different. There might be 89 AS90 on paper, but the actual number of […]

Since its formation, NATO has gone through a continuous process of development and change, constantly adapting to the evolution of the global threat landscape. Acknowledging both the struggle and the success of the Alliance in the last eight decades, the present geopolitical and security context unfolds a puzzle of challenging issues that are harder to predict […]

  Having proclaimed “360-degree defence”, NATO paid special attention to its eastern flank, where the construction of a new defensive line has begun. The situation on NATO’s eastern flank was gradually becoming a crisis, eventually erupting in a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin branded a “special military operation” in order not to […]

The War in Ukraine has brought forth the need for credible air and missile defence capabilities for states that are in close proximity to Russia. This need is especially important for Finland, having applied for NATO membership earlier in the year, and sharing a land border with Russia that is far longer than that of […]

PGZ (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa) and Hanwha Defense have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), covering joint work on artillery (including rocket artillery systems) and armoured vehicles. It also specifies partnership for the production, servicing, life-cycle cost and future development of K9 self-propelled howitzers (SPHs). Hanwha Defense declared that it “puts the highest priority on enhancing […]

There was a time, and it was not that long ago, that even the suggestion that Finland would join NATO would be greeted with total disbelief. It was just totally inconceivable. Yet in the 1980s, if you had insisted that the fall of the Soviet Union was inevitable and would likely happen soon, your views […]

As seen with the recent anti-ship operations in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the latter’s forces attacked the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s flagship, the missile cruiser MOSKVA and also a re-supply ship with land-based anti-ship missiles, resulting in the sinking of both ships in two different events. Related to the attacks, a comment made by the […]

Europe is still facing a war within its borders, but the time seems to have come for new naval strategies. After Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a new Maritime Doctrine for the Russian Federation on 31 July, the United Kingdom published a new version of its National Strategy for Maritime Security (NSMS) on 15 August 2022. The […]

A couple of years ago, there were discussions about defence requirements in Poland, but decisions about procurement or reorganisation of the armed forces were minor. In the summer of last year, matters began to significantly speed up. Many processes have since been accelerated again. The first sign of any new openings in Polish defence policy […]

This article was originally published on 26/08/2022 in ESD’s sister magazine, Europäische Sicherheit & Technik. Since Russia began their invasion on 24 February 2022, there has been a continued tendency on social media and in the press to hype up many Western weapons supplied to Ukraine, often after seeing limited footage of their employment in […]

This article was originally published on 25/07/2022 in ESD’s sister magazine, Europäische Sicherheit & Technik. Over the month of July, there have been a number of articles[1],[2] and social media posts[3] circulating online stating that S-400 has been failing to protect Russian armed forces arms caches and command posts from High Mobility Artillery Rocket System […]

Mobility, both in logistics and on the battlefield, is an indispensable prerequisite for the defence and effectiveness of armed forces. The company General Dynamics European Land Systems-Bridge Systems GmbH (GDELS-Bridge Systems) has made it its business to make significant contributions to supporting mobility in the armed forces. In this interview, the company’s managing director, Dr […]

Slovakia and Finland have signed a Government-to-Government (G2G) contract for the delivery of the Patria Armoured Modular Vehicle XP (AMV XP) 8×8 wheeled armoured fighting vehicles for the Slovak Armed Forces. The €447M contract covers the delivery of 76 vehicles in three variants, as well as logistics, ammunition and infrastructure services. Deliveries are due to […]