On the occasion of the presidential greetings to the armies at the end of January, President Emmanuel Macron had outlined the main lines of the future Military Programming Law 2024-2030 currently being prepared. Thus, the budget allocated to the Armed Forces over this period should reach €400 billion, plus €13 billion in exceptional revenue, while certain programs, including the very emblematic New Generation Aircraft Carrier, or PANG, were confirmed by the President. However, since this announcement, contradictory signals have been issued by the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the General Staff as well as the cabinet of the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne. As for the General Staff and the…
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Italy is giving itself the means but is struggling to find the military for its new defense ambitions
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...
Read the articleAfter Russia, North Korea is surfing on the fantasy of the nuclear torpedo capable of creating a Tsunami
On March 1, 2018, during a televised address as part of the presidential election campaign, President Vladimir Putin publicly announced the upcoming arrival, within the Russian armed forces, of 6 new weapons that will bring the world, and Westerners in particular, to “listen to Russia again,” in his words. Beyond the hypersonic weapons Kinzhal and Avangard as well as the new ICBM Sarmat, all now well known, the Russian president presented a "nuclear-powered" cruise missile, the 9M730 Burevestnik, an anti-aircraft and laser space defense system designated Peresvet , as well as a weapon that, since its presentation, arouses many…
Read the articleThe air forces of the 4 Scandinavian countries will now act as a unified force
The 4 countries forming Scandinavia, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, share, beyond their history and a cool weather, many geographical, demographic and economic characteristics. Thus, they have a relatively small population, 5,8 m for Denmark, 5,5 m for Finland, 5,5 m for Norway and 10,5 m for Sweden, for a very large territory, 2,2 m km2 for Denmark (due to Greenland), 340.000 km2 for Finland, 385.000 km2 for Norway and 450.000 km2 for Sweden. In fact, these 3 of these countries have a density of…
Read the articleShould 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 articleItalian-British-Japanese GCAP 6th generation fighter program specializes in air superiority
Announced at the 2018 Farnbourouh air show, the Futur Combat Air System program and the British 6th generation Tempest fighter was then perceived by many experts as a proud response to the announcement of the upcoming launch of the Franco-German SCAF program in autumn 2017. And even if European partners, such as the Italian Leonardo or the missile MBDA, participated in the British program, many questions remained as to the budgetary sustainability of such a program by London. However, the political determination of the British did not waver, and the first significant investments for the development of the program were not long in being announced, with in passing…
Read the articleThe British Army Ajax armored vehicle emerges from the rut to enter service in 2025
Of all the European armies, the British Army is undoubtedly the one that has experienced the most drastic slimming since the end of the Cold War, going from 158.000 men and 900 Chieftain and Challenger tanks in 1989, to 79.000 men and 227 tanks Challenger 2 today, especially since unlike the Army or the Bundeswehr, it was already made up exclusively of professional soldiers, a centuries-old tradition in Great Britain. In addition to this size reduction, it was also exposed to intense operational pressure, in particular due to the interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan alongside the United States, Great Britain having been,…
Read the articleDespite a budget up by €11 billion/year since 2017, why are the French armies still bloodless?
The execution of the French Military Programming Law 2019-2025 to date has been, in the opinion of all observers, exemplary. Indeed, it scrupulously respected the planned budget increases, constituting a first since the exercise was set up. Indeed, the army budget in 2017 was only €32,7 billion, after fifteen years of critical under-investment, having brought the French armies to the brink of implosion. In fact, the additional credits allocated have made it possible to bring the armed forces budget to €43,9 billion in 2023, an increase of €11,2 billion or 34% compared to the 2017 budget. And if the next …
Read the articleBritish Army urgently orders 14 Archer self-propelled guns to replace AS90 sent to Ukraine
In November 2019, at the request of the British Ministry of Defence, the think tank Royal United Services Institute, made a vitriolic statement about the means available to the British Army, in particular in the field of artillery. Indeed, at that date, it only fielded 2 artillery regiments each equipped with 24 self-propelled guns of 155mm/39 caliber AS90 out of the 89 in the park, as well as 2 batteries of 6 light towed guns L118 of 105 mm assigned to the 16th Air Assault Brigade. As for the 26th Regiment Royal Artillery, it fielded 35 of the 44 unmodernized GMLRS multiple rocket launchers, which…
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