The increase in appropriations devoted to defense had been one of Giorgia Meloni's campaign commitments, with the stated ambition of bringing the Italian defense effort to 2% by the end of the decade, against 1,51 .2023% in XNUMX. And in fact, speaking to the Senate earlier this week, the now Prime Minister of the country confirmed that she intended to strictly apply her campaign commitments in this area, and this in a perfectly open manner. and assumed. She was referring here to the increase in the budget of the armies granted by the previous coalition which was done in the most discreet way possible, so as to...
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Should the French Army turn to the German Rheinmetall KF-51 Panther tank?
That's it .. they cracked up… It's probably in these terms that the vast majority of readers, at least the most measured among them, approached this new article with its slightly provocative title. Indeed, the new KF-51 Panther tank presented by its designer, the German Rheinmetall, during the Eurosatory 2022 exhibition, is today the main tool in the hands of its CEO, Armin Papperger, to try to derail the program Franco-German MGCS which aims to design, precisely, the replacement of the French tank Leclerc as of the German Leopard 2. Developed in equity, the Panther is indeed offered by Rheinmetall to anyone who shows…
Read the articleThe hypothesis of the KF-51 Panther tanks built in Ukraine puzzles specialists
At the beginning of March, the fiery president of the German industrial giant Rheinmetall caused a surprise by announcing that negotiations were underway with Kyiv, with a view to building a factory in Ukraine capable of assembling 400 KF-51 Panther tanks per year, so as to give the Ukrainian armies not only a major technological and operational advantage against the Russian forces, but also to standardize and rationalize the armored fleet of the Ukrainian armed forces which, today, has little to envy to the course of Miracles so many references and micro-fleets are there. In addition, Kyiv would have the possibility of acquiring a fleet of…
Read the articleLithuania wants to acquire 50 battle tanks to arm its new mechanized division
Like the two other Baltic states, Lithuania, which joined NATO in March 2004 and the European Union 2 months later, devotes a relatively large part of its wealth to its armies, with a defense effort reaching 2,53% of GDP in 2023, while the country shares a border of 227 km with Russia (Enclave of Kaliningrad) and 567 km with its Belarusian ally. Its armed forces today consist of 23.000 active professional soldiers, mostly in the land forces, and 28.000 reservists forming, in particular, one of the 3 brigades of the country, the light brigade of Aukštaitija formed…
Read the articleThese 7 technologies that will transform warfare by 2030
Since the start of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, many analyses, including on this site, have focused on the different lessons that these very high intensity combats have brought to light, such as the now indisputable role of the tank but also artillery, coastal or anti-aircraft defenses, and of course drones, to speak only of the technological question. And in fact, many armies have evolved their military planning in recent months precisely to respond to these lessons. This is how Poland embarked on an unprecedented effort to reconstitute a very powerful land force aligning 6 divisions,…
Read the articleItaly, Germany, Poland ..: all in Europe increase their heavy armored forces, except Great Britain and France
The lessons of the war in Ukraine are numerous, and sometimes come to severely undermine certain paradigms powerfully anchored in the Western defense staffs and ministries. Two of these lessons directly concern the fleet of tanks and heavy tracked armored vehicles, considered until a few months ago as too vulnerable, heavy and expensive for a debatable relative operational effect. It is now clear that not only are battle tanks and tracked infantry fighting vehicles indispensable for both offensive and defensive manoeuvre, including in urban theatre, but that despite this key role, they remain vulnerable, even …
Read the articleIs there a pilot for the French defense industrial strategy?
With the return of war in Europe and the rapid deterioration of tensions between major military powers in Asia and the Middle East, the French defense industry found itself, in a few months, a major center of interest both for media than for a number of political personalities who seem to discover the state of disrepair of the stocks of ammunition and spare parts of the armies, or the manufacturing delays of certain equipment such as the Caesar cannon. Not a week now goes by without an announcement concerning the defense industry, the armies or the next military programming law, as well as the comments that…
Read the articleHow much would it cost French taxpayers to align the Army's high-intensity capabilities with Poland?
In recent months, in connection with the war in Ukraine and the generalized increase in the risk of major engagement in Europe and elsewhere, the question of the capacities of the armies to deal with a so-called "high intensity" conflict has become a recurring theme. both in the hemicycle of parliament and in government communication, the media and social networks. Very often, Poland, which has announced a colossal effort to modernize and expand its land capabilities in this area in the years to come, is cited as a reference, making Warsaw the example to follow. The 2024-2030 Military Programming Law being finalized...
Read the articleWhat does the new tactical organization of Russian units in Ukraine tell us?
Since the start of the aggression against Ukraine, the Russian armies had already changed strategy three times for the overall conduct of operations. First, during the first ten days of the operation, they employed a strategy of decapitation of the political authorities and the Ukrainian government, notably by carrying out a major airborne operation on the airfield of Hostomel in the north of Kyiv. After the failure of this maneuver, Moscow began a strategy aimed at the collapse of the Ukrainian forces, by simultaneously and intensively conducting offensives on all the fronts, to the north in Kyiv and Kharkov, to the east in the Donbass, and south from…
Read the articleChina's defense industry goes on the offensive on the export scene
In 2000, Chinese arms exports painfully represented more than $300 million. In 2009, they exceeded $2 billion for the first time, then $2013 billion in 5. Today, China ranks fourth among arms exporters in the world, with more than $2021 billion in turnover. business in 2017, behind the United States, Russia and France, but ahead of Germany, Italy, Great Britain, South Korea and Israel. Over the period 2021-4,6, according to the SIPRI institute, Beijing won XNUMX% of world exports, with an obvious very significant growth dynamic. Beyond the traditional customers of the industries of…
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