The U.S. State Department has approved the sale of Patriot missiles to Poland, reports Reuters: The proposed sale includes 208 Patriot Advanced Capabilty-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement missiles, 16 M903 launching stations, four AN/MPQ-65 radars, four control stations, spares, software and associated equipment. In addition, Poland is authorized to buy U.S. government and contractor technical, […]
Archives for November 2017
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Germany will probably replace Tornado with F-35
It looks like Germany might join the F-35 family around 2025. According to Janes the Joint Strike Fighter is the preferred choice as a replacement for the Tornado. The Tornado will retire around 2030, and the transition to its successor will take about five years. It makes a lot of sense to replace the Tornado […]
Confusion in the Kremlin is a terrible idea
Michael Hikari Cecire in The National Interest arguing that NATO should react asymmetrically to military provocations from Russia: “What would this look like in practice? Exhaustively fortifying the Baltic States is likely a strategic nonstarter, as even a perfect defense would likely only invite Russian countermoves elsewhere. Instead, Western states might link Russian provocations with […]
General Gerasimov describes state of Russia’s armed forces
Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov held a speech on 7 November 2017 where he described the state of the armed forces.
Russia struggles with air-independent submarines
Most modern submarines are built with air-independent propulsion (AIP), but Russia still has not been able to make it work. This means that Russia still builds Kilo-class submarines with a propulsion system that is technologically outdated. A submarine without AIP needs to recharge the electrical batteries ever so often through a snorkel operation that puts […]
Sweden settles on US Patriot missiles
Sweden will buy Patriot missiles to replace the country’s old Hawk air defense system. Political turmoil has preceded the 10 billion kroner deal.
Still waiting for easy access to each other’s territories
While on the topic of NORDEFCO memorandums of understanding, has anyone seen any implementations of last year’s agreement to create easy access to each other’s territories for military capabilities?
Nordic countries agree to exchange radar data for air surveillance
The Nordic countries have agreed to enhance air surveillance through the exchange of radar data between the members of NORDEFCO. The defense ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Nordic Cooperation for Air Surveillance Information Exchange during their meeting in Helsinki yesterday. Several sources report this, but […]
Belarus acquires more air defense missiles
Belarus has ordered a new battery of surface-to-air Tor-M2 missiles (NATO name SA-15 Gauntlet), bringing the number to a total of five batteries, according to the Russian defense blog bmpd. The first battery was acquired in 2011, and since then the arsenal has grown steadily with the goal to end at ten batteries in 2020. […]
Finland is planning mega-exercise in 2020
Finland is planning to hold an Aurora style exercise in 2020 with participation from Sweden, United States and others. Aurora was a Swedish exercise that was held in September and involved 19,000 troops. Finnish defense minister Jussi Niinisto explained that the exercise will gather conscripts, reservists, and soldiers to practice. “If there’s a crisis, it […]