Archive: News & Articles

The US Air Force (USAF) is continuing to modernise its Falconer command and control (C2) architecture, but does the system have a long-term future as the Pentagon embraces new warfighting doctrines? In August 2022, the USAF awarded a USD 319 million contract to SAIC, for sustainment and modernisation of the AN/USQ-163 Falconer C2 system, which […]

Dominated by fighter types produced by Western manufacturers, the air forces of the Gulf region remain a viable market for future fighter sales. While some Gulf states – effectively Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – have made significant moves in recent years to indigenise defence production, in the aerospace sector these efforts have […]

Military commanders have always been concerned about supplying their forces on the ground. Determining stock levels, providing, distributing, and replenishing constitute the supply function. This article focuses on combat supply operations in a NATO environment from a French perspective. Supplying armies in the field has always been a concern for military leaders – supplies include […]

On 9 August 2022, the Biden administration signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law. The act was intended to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the US, decreasing its reliance on foreign suppliers. Since then, the global competition for semiconductor production and the supply of rare earth metals has only heated up. During President Xi Jin […]

Artillery of all kinds plays one of the most devastating and important roles in modern battle and while armoured, self-propelled (SP) platforms are increasingly being procured, towed guns, together with tubes of dismounted infantry mortars, continue to play a critical part in current conflicts. This article shares thoughts on towed artillery and mortar systems primarily […]

The task of building and breaching battlefield obstacles has come sharply back into the spotlight following Ukraine’s difficulties breaking through Russian lines during their summer 2023 counter-offensive. It therefore bears examining Russia’s approach to defensive fighting, as well as the particular difficulties faced by Ukraine in overcoming the many obstacles in their path. Russia’s defences […]

Self-propelled (SP) mortars remain crucial in providing support to fast-paced operations by mounted, mechanised and armoured forces. In addition to tracked and 8×8 wheeled armoured vehicles, mobile mortars are increasingly being mounted on 4×4 vehicles. While mortars come in various calibres, vehicle-mounted mortars usually range from 81 mm (medium) to 120 mm (heavy), although a […]

In the decades following the end of the Cold War, most US investment in integrated air and missile defence (IAMD) had been on large, non-mobile systems. Manoeuvre formation IAMD was reduced and units removed from the order of battle. Other NATO members made similar decisions. Elsewhere, countries that continued to field new ground-based air defence […]

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has very clearly demonstrated the continued importance of artillery – both tube and rocket – on the modern battlefield. It has also supplied real world data on what artillery can achieve today and what it needs to achieve to meet the conditions expected in the conflicts of tomorrow. Developers of […]

The ongoing Russia–Ukraine war has shown that artillery – traditionally known as the ‘king of the battlefield’ – remains a key element of any country’s armed forces. This runs contrary to the previous assessment in many countries that modern guided munitions and aviation would mostly replace artillery. It has also become clear that modern digital […]

The European continent is criss-crossed by a large number of waterways that make large-scale ground military manoeuvres difficult. This article examines the extent of the challenges that water obstacles present and why gap crossings are relevant in the case of the War in Ukraine. It discusses the risks inherent in performing a water-crossing operation and […]

Establishing a beachhead is the defining component of an amphibious assault. Fail, and the following forces may have to find an alternate landing site or fight their way onto shore. Succeed and it is possible to achieve surprise at scale, which has been identified as an important component of military success.[1] The impact a successful […]

The dismounted soldier today relies on an increasingly diverse array of personal equipment, electronic devices and sensors, most of which require a constant power supply for effective operation. That means already over-burdened warfighters must carry enough stored power to perform their mission. Electric power and dismounted power budgets are crucial for the future of warfare […]

Small arms represent one of the most fundamental elements of military equipment. As such, one might expect that these weapons and their accompanying ammunition have benefitted from years of significant technological advances, though such an expectation would only partially ring true. Significant technological progress has indeed taken place, but many widely used types of small […]

The British Royal Navy is in the middle of a significant programme of fleet renewal. Two major projects are currently underway that will ultimately see the commissioning of eight Type 26 anti-submarine warfare and five Type 31 general purpose frigates. Together, they will replace over two thirds of the navy’s major surface combatants. Responsible for […]

The ongoing war in Ukraine underscores just how hotly contested the airspace over the tactical edge will be in future conflicts. There are no firm definitions for very short-range air defence (VSHORAD) or short-range air defence (SHORAD), though a 2019 official UK publication entitled ‘Joint Air Defence’ provides some useful thresholds. The document states that […]

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 […]

The modern designated marksman rifle (DMR) came about in response to conditions encountered in the post-2000 asymmetric conflicts, in particular in Afghanistan. Put simply, the requirement arose to complement the existing inventory of infantry weapons, specifically for a weapon that could offer increased range and significantly increased stopping power. Along with increasing adoption, new DMR […]

Body armour and related carry systems must be capable of withstanding any ballistic danger, constructed of the appropriate materials, and tested to the highest standards. When it comes to facing real-world, operational threats such as the Russian-made Dragunov semi-automatic sniper rifle on the battlefields of Ukraine, wearing effective body armour is essential for survival. While […]

The crucible of conflict in Ukraine is teaching many things to those willing to look, listen and learn. Almost at the pinnacle of the hierarchy of lessons learned lie multiple aspects of drone warfare – fast becoming a warfare domain in its own right. Sensors, propulsion, data processing and dissemination, effectors and payloads – all […]

With weapon lethality at an all-time high, and many confirmed losses of modern land vehicle platforms across multiple battlefields, it is worth examining the extent to which current protection systems are up to facing the challenges of the modern battlefield. In order to analyse the efficacy of modern armour on current battlefields, an analytical framework […]