Archive: News & Articles

One abiding aspect of warfare and terrorism involving chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons is that many of them persist for a long time after use. Many, but not all, CBRN materials can pose a contamination hazard for hours, days, weeks, or even months, depending on the material used, the material contaminated, and environmental […]

HELMA-P, HELIOS, HELCAP, SSL-TM, ODIN, these acronyms represent just a sample of the multiple ongoing High Energy Laser (HEL) programmes in France and the US. Many other programmes – such as, DragonFire in the UK – are progressing worldwide, albeit at varying paces, in a bid to outpace potential opponents on the road to HELs. […]

With the historic June 2024 signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Lithuania and Rheinmetall for the establishment of a new ammunition plant, ESD’s Stephen Barnard (SB) had the opportunity to speak with representatives of the Lithuanian government during Eurosatory 2024. Namely, with Vice-Minister of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania, […]

Russia’s recent military aggression has created many problems for European leaders, and not all of them come from the most obvious direction to the East. The other growing challenge for NATO involves the vast North. The Arctic is becoming a venue for geopolitical, economic, diplomatic and potentially military disputes as never before. The warming planet […]

Since at least late-2022, Ukraine’s ingenuity and necessity led it to experiment with maritime uncrewed systems (MUSs) or what in ordinary language are referred to as ‘sea drones’. These have had a profound impact on its efforts to combat Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. In October 2022, Ukrainian video footage surfaced, obtained through GoPro-style camera mounted […]

It will be difficult to identify true turning points in the Ukraine war. Instead, we should look to understand the trajectory of the war from multiple perspectives. This piece examines the current situation in Ukraine, and what things may begin to look like going forward. Social media-fuelled optimism Viewed through the camera of a drone, […]

On 6 August 2024, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) surprised many by staging a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk oblast, bringing the fight to Russian soil. The stretch of border where the incursion occurred was largely weakly-defended, largely by conscripts and guards from the Russian Border Service. Fairly quickly, the Ukrainian force managed to […]

With the understanding that the Russo-Ukrainian War has transitioned into a protracted phase and that the Russian army’s command has adopted a war of attrition strategy, the capabilities of the Russian Military Industrial Complex (MIC) have become one of the central issues among others that allow for assessing the course and prospects of the armed […]

The War in Ukraine has pushed Poland to significantly boost its military spending. This represents a substantial opportunity for the Polish defence industry, which is now operating at full capacity. The industry is also counting on new orders and investments. The War in Ukraine, which escalated to the point of full-scale invasion in February 2022, […]

The Kursk operation by the Ukrainian Armed Forces brought an unexpected turn to the ongoing war. At the time of writing, within just over a week, the Ukrainian Army has successfully captured more land than the Russian armed forces were capable of since the outset of their offensive in Kharkiv region early May 2024. As […]

In June 2024, ESD got the chance to sit down with General (ret.) Thomas Antonius Middendorp, of the Royal Netherlands Armed Forces to discuss his thoughts on the links between climate change and security challenges, as well as the benefits to be gained by modern militaries through the adoption of ‘green’ technologies. General Middendorp has […]

In recent years, Poland has launched the largest modernisation programme for its armed forces in history. However, not all widely publicised announcements have resulted in binding orders. Impending financial difficulties also raise doubts about these ambitious plans. In July 2024, Deputy Minister of National Defence Paweł Bejda stated that it was his “dream” for Poland’s […]

Why are some US-supplied weapons relying on the Global Positioning System falling prey to Russian jamming? May 2024 finished with bad news. Some of the weapons the United States had supplied to Ukraine were losing their effectiveness. Systems such as the BAE Systems/Raytheon M982 Excalibur 155 mm artillery shell and Lockheed Martin’s M142 HIMARS (High […]

State and non-state actors are seeking to build mass at sea, with maritime uncrewed systems a key line of development. The potential for adversaries to use such systems in swarm attacks is prompting Western navies to counter this threat, including at distance to push it further out In the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, rogue […]

In the era of great power competition, the ability to conduct deep-strike operations against targets over the horizon and also far behind the front line at distance – on land and at sea – is seen as essential to degrade enemy forces and win a future peer conflict. This article investigates the capabilities being fielded […]

As far as combat aircraft programmes go, there appears to be one inescapable fact; although every new generation of combat aircraft aims to outperform its predecessor and often does so, it is unable to achieve a significant reduction in costs. Despite efforts to control costs, the reality of designing, developing and fielding an advanced combat […]

The start of the war’s summer campaign in Ukraine has seen key developments emerging, the results of which could be assessed over the next few months. In May 2024, the Russian command launched an offensive in the Kharkiv region, in parallel lines with the ongoing offensive operations in Donetsk region. Given the limited Russian capabilities […]

This article examines some of the key recent developments in the air refuelling tanker space. Tanker aircraft programmes worldwide reflect shared challenges. Tankers based on airliner designs – the vast majority of those now in service – may prove vulnerable to future threats. The need to increase tanker availability has led to NATO’s multinational tanker […]

A significant number of European nations are acquiring the F-35 fifth-generation combat aircraft. This will enhance interoperability within NATO armed forces, but raises the question of excessive reliance on a single weapon system. The F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft was conceived at the outset as a multinational project and with an eye to exports beyond […]

The armed forces of the United States are pursuing acquisition of unconventional VTOL aircraft to perform niche missions, with Congress taking an increasing interest in these capabilities. The primary advantage of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft lies in their flexibility. They operate independent of runways and also from relatively confined areas including parking lots, […]

Superior airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) confers advantage over an adversary and potential dominance over a battlespace. Latest AEW&C aircraft developments and operations underpin the continuing and increasing importance for their presence in the skies above today’s geopolitically, supercharged, global landscape. Following the advent of radar in the UK in the mid-1930s, it was […]