Archive: News & Articles

Italy’s new diesel-electric submarine (SSK) – being delivered under the U212 Near Future Submarine (NFS) programme – will arrive at a time when new submarine capabilities are having significant effect in an increasingly contested underwater domain. The boats’ improved capabilities will reinforce the output the Italian Navy is already generating with its Todaro class Type […]

On 18 January 2023, Britain’s DE&S procurement agency announced that it had awarded a GBP 1.6 Bn (circa EUR 1.8 Bn) contract to the Team Resolute consortium to build three Fleet Solid Support Ships (FSS) for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Comprising BMT, Harland & Wolff and Navantia UK, Team Resolute had previously gained preferred bidder […]

Turkey’s MILGEM programme represents a significant accomplishment in that country’s sustained effort to become a designer, builder and exporter of advanced naval warships. The MILGEM’s programme history highlights how Turkey has built on the initial domestic customer base for MILGEM corvettes to expand into the export market; a proven business model used by many other […]

Fundamental design requirements for the European shipbuilders of OPVs are changing. Potential operations can encompass a wide range of environments and missions, from patrolling Arctic regions to protecting underwater resources from economic exploitation in territorial waters as well as in Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). Traditional war-type tasks have to be taken into account alongside search […]

When the ‘Rhein/Rhin’ Franco-German air transport squadron was officially inaugurated at Évreux, Normandy, on 9 March 2022, a new chapter of Franco-German military co-operation was opened. German and French military personnel commonly operate four French C-130J transport aircraft (two of which are KC-130J tanker variants) and three German C-130J-30s, while three German KC-130J tanker variants […]

It is one of the most famous capabilities to make a difference in Ukraine’s ongoing war, but how applicable is SpaceX’s Starlink satellite communications system to future military operations? On 28th February 2022, four days after Russia’s second invasion of Ukraine, mercurial billionaire Elon Musk, sent Starlink Satellite Communications (SATCOM) terminals to Ukraine. Starlink is […]

As peer warfare in Europe has reared its head in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the pressure on the West’s armed forces to modernise their ground vehicle fleets has increased. Militaries turning to industry to meet these requirements have often found that while modern offers are much more capable than those of yesteryear, […]

From earthquakes, floods and wildfires on the natural side of things, to man-made, mass-casualty events, as such incidents unfold, they present first responders and emergency personnel arriving on-site with typically chaotic scenes. Implementing immediate, coordinated and well-rehearsed control procedures is needed from the start, not least of which is the establishment of an incident command […]

The Western arms industry is overstretched. With replenishment times for arms shipped to Ukraine alarmingly high, it is not enough for European armies to have quality suppliers. It is now also a question of being well-positioned in the delivery priorities of defence companies. Over the past decades, European countries have allowed their weapon arsenals and […]

The global and European security environment is characterised by instability and unpredictability. Crises in distant regions may have both short- and long-term impact on Hungary’s security, increasing the number and scope of threats and challenges to our country. Overall, the global security environment is deteriorating. The shifting balance of power is accompanied by a renewed […]

The ambitious armament programme of the Hungarian armed forces, originally called ‘Zrinyi 2026’, has also had a lasting influence on the equipment of the infantry. In addition to aspects of modernisation that affect all branches of the armed forces, such as small arms, communications or personal equipment, the issue of tactical mobility is of particular […]

Hungary has been investing heavily in military modernisation to enhance its national defensive capabilities and contribute to NATO collective defence. This article provides an overview of Hungary’s major equipment procurement programmes, and how this will shape the country’s force structure going into the future. Since joining NATO in 1999, Hungary has been working to modernise […]

On the challenge of mission grade communications at the tactical edge, Macy Summers, President and CEO of Blu Wireless Inc., explains how IEEE mmWave 5G technology gives the front line a ‘ direct connect’ advantage. 5G is being pitched as the way forward for defence communications and 3GPP (the primary global development association for 5G) […]

The following survey provides an overview of the most important ammunition producers from Central and Eastern Europe (excluding the republics of the former Soviet Union). Albania Since 1962, the Albanian arms industry has produced a variety of ammunition, explosives and infantry weapons, all of which faced rapid decline after the fall of communism in Albania […]

Greece has technological inventiveness and innovation going far back into its history. Recent decades, however, have seen a malaise and financial downturn impacting all of society, though economic recovery now seems to be in full swing, including for the nation’s high-tech defence sector. From Archimedes’ Screw, differential gears, cranes, winches, the torsion catapult and even […]

Following a decade of lean budgets, the Greek government has embarked on an ambitious procurement programme to modernise and maintain the combat power of the armed forces. The Greek financial crisis of 2009-2018 restricted government spending across the board, including defence. This forced a number of acquisition and maintenance programmes to be suspended for a […]

Warfare is changing, and it is important to understand why. The heart of this transformation is the technological convergence of micro-miniaturization, computing power, robotics, sensors, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Of these converging elements, AI is the most active accelerator, as it enables humans to interact with machines in new and powerful ways. This interaction, called […]

As the threat from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) grows, Counter-UAV (C-UAV or CUAV) capabilities are becoming a vital subsector of modern armed forces’ air defence arm. The ongoing war in the Ukraine has seen a significant deployment of unmanned systems by both belligerents. This development was presaged over the past decade by events in the […]

Very small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are providing even the lowest echelon infantry units with advanced situational awareness capabilities. Various terms are used to categorise unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with a diameter of 2-50 cm: Very Small UAV, Micro-Drone, Micro UAV, Micro-UAV, Nano-UAV, or simply Micro Air Vehicles (MAV). Despite the disagreement over terminology, armed […]

UAVs are helping define the tactical battle on the ground in Ukraine. The country needs low-power jamming technology to use against these threats which can be sourced domestically. Every war has its signature weapons. The First World War famously had the tank and aircraft, the Second World War U-Boats and the atomic bomb. America’s ten-year […]

Modern military capabilities are becoming increasingly dependent on satellites, from communications to navigation, to reconnaissance and intelligence. This situation makes the space domain a crucial battleground in the future, and is incentivising the development of both offensive and defensive capabilities in this sphere. Sixty years ago, a group of computer users at the Massachusetts Institute […]