Start Archive: News & Articles

Archive: News & Articles


Examining the future of C-UAV and C-RAM

The battlefield threat posed by small and medium unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as by precision artillery continues to evolve. Both are driving a demand for counter-UAV (C-UAV) and counter-rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) systems, and there is a good degree of overlap between the two. Intense research and development efforts are necessary to […]

Defending the Kingdom

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is faced with an extremely challenging strategic environment in which previous strategic certainties no longer apply. For years, the economic and defence links between Saudi Arabia and the US were such that they constituted an implicit guarantee of support from Washington in the event of the Kingdom facing a […]

Search and destroy: Middle East theatre stages showdown between conducting and countering UAV operations

Uncrewed capabilities have often been touted as ‘game changers’, at strategic and operational levels. The current crises and conflict across the Middle East are demonstrating how one type of uncrewed system – uncrewed air vehicles (UAVs) – can have such impact. Western militaries have for some time been working on delivering new capability and operational […]



US security aid to Ukraine falls hostage to the cult of Trump

Any potential Ukrainian progress in pushing back the country’s Russian invaders is already being threatened by political machinations in Washington, but if Donald Trump were to be re-elected president in November 2024, Kyiv’s position could be fatally compromised. As 2023 drew to a close, the administration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky must have looked with […]

MEDEVAC – keeping the wounded alive

The efficient medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) of wounded soldiers from the battlefield follows a planned pathway involving trained personnel using the latest available equipment and medical procedures. Battlefield wounds often present medical professionals with the most complex injuries encountered. A soldier may be wounded in the remotest of locations, making it all the more urgent for […]

Turret options for modern AFVs

Turrets are central to armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) design and house many of the most important subsystems on any platform. These can include the main armament, sensors, fire control systems, and protection systems. The choice of turret can affect greatly what a system can or cannot do. The market for standalone turrets provides potential users […]



Another new dawn beckons for UK heavy armour

UK procurement for its heavier armoured formations has not been a happy experience in recent decades, but the British Army now has a plan – another one – intended to deliver the land-based fighting capability it requires. On 9 March 2021 a UK House of Commons Defence Committee (HCDC) report was published that focused on […]

Breaking the stalemate

For the overwhelming majority of the war in Ukraine, the highly capable air defences of both sides have greatly limited the employment and usefulness of manned combat aircraft of all types. In cases where aircraft were used, pilots typically stuck to low altitudes to avoid being detected and engaged, or relied on long-range standoff weapons […]

The Bundeswehr special fund – a year and a half later

The Bundeswehr special fund was legally established in July 2022. In the initial economic plan, a total of 38 projects were listed in five spheres, totalling EUR 100 billion. In December 2022, a new economic plan – heavily revised following criticism – was adopted for the first time in connection with the adoption of the […]



De-lousing: the Role of ISR in Enabling Maritime Operations

Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities are an essential, overlaying enabler for naval operations. As the strategic importance of operational tasks such as mine warfare and anti-submarine warfare returns, so does the requirement to expand and enhance ISR capability and its support for such tasks, particularly through enhancing multi-domain command, control, and communications. Intelligence, surveillance, […]

The Battle for Low Earth Orbit and the Stratosphere

Amid an uncertain security environment, competition in Low Earth Orbit and the stratosphere is heating up. SpaceX launched their 42nd Starlink delivery mission of the year on 25 September 2023, at 4:48 a.m. EDT, when a Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The rocket placed 21 V2 Mini Starlink […]

Dynamic Messenger 2023: Extending the Envelope of Unmanned Capabilities at Sea

In a round of related exercises off the coast of Portugal, NATO has been exploring the future potential of maritime unmanned assets. Hosted by the Portuguese Navy out of its Maritime Experimentation Operations Centre on the Tróia peninsula and its naval facilities in Sesimbra, NATO has recently conducted two overlapping exercises focused on integrating maritime […]



Detecting Missile Threats from Space

As the threat from manoeuvrable hypersonic missiles adds to the already vast array of ballistic and other missile threats, increasingly extensive and sophisticated space-based satellite constellations providing missile warning and tracking functionality are being deployed to bolster US missile defences for the protection of the US and its Allies. This article examines the threats demanding […]

Developments in Lithium-ion Batteries and AIP Systems for Submarines

The latest developments in Lithium-ion battery (LIB) systems in the underwater domain have resulted in significant advantages for submarine operations compared to standard lead-acid batteries and have increased the number of new submarine procurement programmes. The aim is to provide modern submarines with maximum tactical mobility, while at the same time reducing the indiscretion rate […]

Covert Demonstration: USVs Change the Stealth Game at Sea

Ukraine’s USV campaign in the Black Sea has demonstrated how uncrewed systems can have critical impact on naval warfare. Western navies and industry alike are taking this lesson onboard in uncrewed system operation and design. The use of stealth at sea by Ukraine, a country with lesser absolute and relative naval capability has enabled that […]



Future Vertical Lift (Maritime Strike): Status Report

The US Navy has begun the search for replacements for its shipboard manned and unmanned vertical lift aircraft. The Future Vertical Lift (Maritime Strike) or FVL (MS) program seeks to develop and acquire a ‘family of systems’ (FoS) including both manned and unmanned aircraft to replace rotary lift aircraft currently deployed aboard US Navy (USN) […]

Today’s Combat Shotgun Market

The shotgun might not have the ‘glamour’ of some other small arms, for instance it cannot successfully engage a target at 600 m. However in urban combat scenarios, the weapon truly comes into its own. At present many militaries are working towards the development and fielding of new generations of small arms that combine high […]

The Winding Path to Military Autonomous Vehicles

As militaries around the world test and deploy new autonomous vehicles, commercial enterprises are developing innovative solutions which could change the battlefield in both big and small ways. In late 2022, BAE Systems Australia supplied two fully autonomous vehicles (AVs) for a ‘battlefield simulation’ demonstration for the Australian Army. This is just one more milestone […]



Reassessment of Soviet-era Weapons in the Ukraine War

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 […]

Combat Search and Rescue: Sustainment and Modernisation Efforts

Armed forces must reexamine their combat search and rescue (CSAR) capabilities in light of operational realities associated with the return to great power competition and peer-warfare. The acronym CSAR can stand for Combat Search and Rescue or Combat Search and Recovery. While CSAR is dedicated to finding and retrieving any military personnel who are cut […]

The Expanding Market for AEW&C Solutions

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 […]




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