Naval

Naval “Cheap Shot”: Shoot Smart, Last Longer

Attacks by drones and other “attritable” vectors have changed what naval defense really means. The key issue is no longer just radar quality or missile range. It’s endurance. How many days can a warship hold out before it runs down its missiles, decoys, chaff, and its ability to sustain fire? Saturation is not simply “a […]

Air

GCAP: Japan Locks In “Sovereignty of Use” and Secures Key Program Levers

GCAP (the Global Combat Air Programme) is the trilateral Japan/United Kingdom/Italy effort to field a next-generation fighter with an intended entry into service around 2035. Within that framework, Japan has set out explicit sovereignty requirements, timely upgrades, domestic sustainment, and freedom to modify, and has also secured governance positions that give it meaningful influence over […]

Air

Drone-on-Drone Interception: Cost, Effectiveness and Lessons

In recent conflicts, drone-on-drone interception is not the result of theoretical debate, but of a very concrete reality: the growing difficulty of sustainably neutralizing low-cost drones using expensive and scarce ground-based defenses. In Ukraine, reconnaissance and attack drones assembled for only a few thousand euros have repeatedly forced forces on both sides to rely on […]

Land

Operational Eco-Resilience: The Baltic Case Study

For a long time, energy efficiency was treated as an environmental luxury secondary to the pursuit of firepower, mobility, or rate of fire. That paradigm is shifting. In an environment where logistics are contested, where every convoy becomes a target and every thermal emission an exploitable signature, saving energy becomes a tactical act. This is […]

Air

The Netherlands Moves on “Loyal Wingman” as Europe Picks Up Speed on MUM-T

On Oct. 31, 2025, Anduril hit a visible milestone in the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) effort: its YFQ-44A prototype flew for the first time, bringing a jet-powered “loyal wingman” concept into measurable flight testing. Two weeks earlier, on Oct. 16, the Netherlands formalized cooperation through a letter of intent signed in Washington […]

Cyber Naval

What’s Next for a European Naval Combat Cloud?

For the past decade, the “combat cloud” largely lived in airpower briefings. Now, the concept is quietly migrating to the maritime domain. The premise is familiar: link sensors, platforms, and weapons into a distributed network where information moves faster than forces maneuver, and where any shooter can leverage the best available sensor. At sea, however, […]

Cyber

GNSS Under Pressure: How Europe Is Building a Plan B

In Europe, satellite navigation, GPS, Galileo, and other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), is no longer just an engineering issue. It has become an operational and safety risk for aviation, maritime traffic, and critical infrastructure that relies on precise timing. Since the war in Ukraine began, GNSS jamming and spoofing have surged across the Baltic, […]

Air Land

From Autopilot to Autonomy : Where Are Weapon Systems Heading?

In recent years, the concept of autonomy in weapon systems has shifted from science fiction to operational reality. From swarming drones to AI-assisted decision loops, modern armies are investing heavily in new forms of battlefield autonomy, not to replace humans, but to enhance their effectiveness and survivability. Defining autonomy Autonomy exists on a spectrum. The […]

Air

The eyes of the sky: modern surveillance aircraft and their strategic value

In an era where information dominance defines victory, airborne surveillance has become one of the most critical components of modern military power. From NATO’s E-3 Sentry to Sweden’s GlobalEye, airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft serve as flying command posts, detecting, tracking, and managing threats across vast distances. These aircraft, integrating powerful radar systems […]