Archive: News & Articles

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 […]

One of the key lessons learned from the ongoing war in Ukraine is the need for combat aircraft to have look-down/shoot-down capabilities against low and slow targets, such as uncrewed aerial vehicles. The Persian Gulf is located 2,987 km from Ukraine yet an event that occurred on 13 April 2024 near this stretch of water […]

Leading military powers are looking to new technologies and innovative designs to enhance the future survivability and operational effectiveness of their air forces. As offensive and defensive technologies develop, armed forces that do not keep pace become vulnerable. Particular threats to aircraft are posed by increasingly long-range and discriminatory sensors coupled with long-range air defence […]

As NATO peer and near-peer adversaries have continued to advance their intelligence-gathering, targeting, and long-range strike capabilities. Consequently, airbases, which have typically been geographically separated from conflict areas and represented relative safe havens, are increasingly vulnerable. As such, NATO Allies and partner nations are streamlining to become more ‘agile’, to counter a range of threats […]

Generating fast-jet pilots is an expensive business with air forces adopting a number of different training models to achieve their goals. This fast-jet training pipeline is not easy to manage, and a number of air forces are suffering pilot shortages and incurring increasing costs as a result. What does it take to fly a modern […]

Underpinning the US’ formidable intelligence-gathering capabilities are the varied and unique spy satellites operated by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). This article peers into the murky world of US space-based intelligence gathering, charting its progress from the Cold War to the present. Back in the late-1970s, a US aerospace engineer drew my attention to a […]

Over the past decade, hypersonic technologies have become one of the most discussed developments related to modern warfare. At present, hypersonics are being actively developed both for tactical and strategic uses by most major military powers. It is important to define what exactly hypersonic weapons are, as there is somewhat of a tendency to overuse […]

Europe produces three modern fighter aircraft in service with the continent’s air forces, although the American F-35, a crucial component of NATO’s air strategy, will form the backbone of the Alliance’s air defence. Five countries (Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom) operate the Eurofighter Typhoon, while France, Greece, and Croatia fly the Rafale. […]

US truck and tactical vehicle provider Navistar Defense has been renamed ND Defense LLC and on 15 July 2024 announced the appointment of Imtiaz Uddin as its new CEO. Uddin steps into the role following the retirement of Ted Wright, who served as CEO for the company for the past five years. “Uddin brings a […]

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and loitering munitions (LMs) above the battlefields of Ukraine are just some of the airborne threats that have changed the battlespace forever. However, the airburst/proximity effects and latest ‘programmable’ capabilities of certain medium-calibre munitions are providing an effective counter. This article looks briefly at the relevance of proximity […]

Global market surveys forecast continued high demand for anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) over the next decade. While insurgencies and low-intensity conflicts are here to stay, the world is experiencing a return to great power conflict and interstate warfare. With the increasing prospect of combat involving armoured formations, national armed forces need to reinforce their capability […]

The rotorcraft designs of 2030–35 will emerge from the US Future Vertical Lift (FVL) programmes, the NATO Next-Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC), and the European Next-Generation Rotorcraft Technologies (ENGRT). Yet many legacy rotorcraft will fly into the 2060s, putting a premium on upgrades. Unmanned rotorcraft, using autonomous flight capabilities, are potentially transformative. New sources – China, […]

Tactical precision strike, or recce-strike as it is occasionally known, has exploded as an area of concern for forces around the globe. This article explores the design parameters and requirements that make for an effective strike system, and what it is that is driving militaries to seek them out. In July 2009, General Stanley McChrystal, […]

4×4 armoured fighting vehicles fill a niche requirement, providing combat forces with a unique combination of protection, mobility, and firepower. It is generally accepted that 4×4 armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) cannot maximise any particular characteristic of the so-called ‘Iron triangle’ of firepower, survivability, and mobility. They are generally less mobile than unarmoured vehicles and less […]

As battlefields trend toward increasing transparency through the proliferation of intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) technologies, denial of these vital streams of information is becoming imperative to survival. In the 1980s the Soviet Union propelled Nikolai Ogarkov to the position of Chief of the General Staff. Ogarkov was a technologist who argued for […]

The uptake of radio frequency over fibre optic technology for use on the battlefield could increase in the coming years as land forces seek ways to mask their radio emissions from detection and interference. Radio frequency (RF) energy exists in the radio segment of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically 3 kHz up to 300 GHz, though […]

The wars currently being waged have brought the importance of the main battle tank as a potent tool in the hands of the troop commander back into focus. At the same time, new threats – especially from the air – have emerged. For more than 10 years, Germany and France have been designing a successor […]

With numerous procurement and upgrade efforts occurring across the European continent, France’s SCORPION (synergie du contact renforcée par la polyvalence et l’infovalorisation) programme remains a standout among Europe’s ground forces modernisation efforts. This article examines the key capabilities being replaced or improved under SCORPION, as well as the road taken to get there. Under the […]

Options for military truck procurers are gradually dwindling. This article provides an overview of the shrinking European marketplace. There are some purpose-designed military trucks serving with armed forces across Europe, but the vast majority of military load-carrying fleets are made up of commercially available or commercially derived models. These are of course militarised to varying […]

Recent years have seen multiple hypersonic weapon designs seen coming out of primarily China, Russia, and the US. While several designs have already entered active service, they remain a significant challenge for most existing ground-based air defence (GBAD) systems to intercept. As such, the hypersonic threat has triggered a rush for bespoke solutions to this […]

There are countless commonly-cited myths floating around regarding what high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warheads are and how they work, most of which are completely inaccurate. In this article, the author provides a crash course in the field of shaped charges and related protection systems, demystifying HEAT warheads as well as many commonly-cited countermeasures, and explaining […]