Military power is often assessed through the capabilities of armed forces: the size of armies, the number of combat aircraft or the tonnage of naval fleets. Yet recent conflicts suggest that another dimension has become equally important: the civilian systems that enable military operations. Commercial aircraft, merchant shipping, industrial facilities and civilian supply chains have […]
By the early 2040s, the Netherlands will have renewed most of its major naval combat capabilities. Four Orka-class submarines will replace the Walrus class, four new Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) frigates are under construction, and a new generation of Air Defense and Command Frigates is being prepared. At the same time, The Hague has launched a […]
Europe is rearming. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, defense budgets have surged, missile and ammunition orders have multiplied, and defense manufacturers have accelerated investment. Yet behind these rearmament announcements lies a far less visible constraint: securing the critical materials required to manufacture modern military equipment. While the United States, China, and several Asian powers have […]
Armed forces are no longer acquiring platforms alone. They are now investing in digital capabilities that protect systems, exploit data and accelerate decision-making. This shift is already reflected in NATO’s strategic direction. In July 2024, the Alliance revised its Artificial Intelligence Strategy to strengthen the governance, reliability and interoperability of artificial intelligence systems. In May […]
In the aftermath of the Cold War, the protection of surface combatants was built around a relatively stable assumption: the primary threat came from a limited number of high-speed anti-ship missiles. Naval air defense architectures were therefore designed to detect incoming threats at the greatest possible distance, engage them with surface-to-air missiles, and rely on […]
When the Russian frigate Neustrashimy conducted a live-fire exercise south of Plymouth on 20 July 2026, the event immediately triggered a political response in the United Kingdom and attracted widespread media attention. The British government described the exercise as “performative and irresponsible,” while the Royal Navy confirmed that it had monitored the warship throughout its […]
When Western countries launched a rapid rearmament effort following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, attention naturally focused on defense budgets, ammunition orders, and production capacity. Yet another constraint quickly emerged: the availability of certain materials essential to manufacturing modern military equipment. In our previous article, we explored why critical materials are becoming a new measure of […]
Across Europe, the first half of 2026 was marked by a succession of multinational exercises involving land, air, and naval forces, as well as cyber specialists and electronic warfare units. Considered individually, each exercise serves a specific operational objective. Taken together, however, they provide a particularly revealing insight into the assumptions that are now shaping […]
Launched in 2022, Alabuga Start is officially presented as an international education and employment program for young foreigners seeking professional experience in Russia. Through polished social media campaigns, training opportunities, and attractive employment packages, the initiative claims to recruit candidates from more than 80 countries to the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in the Republic of […]
For decades, Western militaries built their superiority around a relatively stable model. Precision, stealth, and technological superiority were expected to enable the rapid defeat of an adversary using a limited number of highly capable platforms. This approach has profoundly shaped military doctrine since the end of the Cold War. Recent conflicts, however, point to the […]
