Category: Europe

The 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 article

Italian-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 article

The 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 article

Despite 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. And in fact, while 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 budget of the armed forces to €43,9 billion in 2023, an increase of €11,2 billion and 34% compared to the 2017 budget. And…

Read the article

British 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…

Read the article

Should we reconsider the potential of naval artillery for combatant surface ships?

In the early 2000s, the US Navy began designing a new class of heavy destroyers, the DD-21 program, designated as "Landward Attack Destroyers". The program will give birth to the Zumwalt class, a ship 190 meters long for a laden displacement of almost 16.000 tons, with great stealth and a particularly low line on the water to reduce vulnerability to missiles. anti-shipping. In addition to the 20 Mk47 vertical launch systems of 4 silos each accommodating 4 short and medium range anti-aircraft missiles ESSM or a Tomahawk cruise missile, the main armament of the ship was based on 2 new…

Read the article

Lithuania 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 article

Poland to develop heavy infantry fighting vehicle to support its M1A2 Abrams tanks

Will Poland, on its own, completely neutralize the Russian ground threat in the years to come? In any case, this is the question that we can ask ourselves by observing the ambitions of recruitment, defense programs and acquisition of equipment which have been announced for a year now by Warsaw. Indeed, after announcing the order for 250 American M1A2 SEPv3 heavy tanks in July 2021, the Polish authorities announced the order for 32 AW149 helicopters from the Italian Leonardo in June 2022, 3 Mièçznick frigates from the British Babcock as well as 1000 K2 tanks and 672 K9 self-propelled guns in…

Read the article

These 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 article

Canberra, London and Washington presented a solid strategy to equip Australia with nuclear attack submarines

The acquisition of nuclear attack submarines (SNA) by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), announced 18 months ago now as part of the creation of the AUKUS alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, had raised many questions about the real feasibility of such a program, but also about the costs which will, without a doubt, be very high to allow the RAN to go from 6 conventional submarines from the Collins class to 8 SNAs of American or British design, even though the country does not have a civilian nuclear industry. The presentation, during the AUKUS Event in San Diego…

Read the article
Forgotten password
Please enter your email address or username below.
 
Login
 
 
✕
Meta-Defense

FREE OF CHARGE
ABOUT