Forward Observer has made a list of three things that the U.S. military needs to fight in NATO-aligned Europe. The list is: Installation of GPS navigation in those Blackhawk helicopters that don’t have it already. Better cold weather gear and boots. An ADR safety certification of cars and trucks laden with hazardous materials. They could […]
Army
Sweden establishes new regiment on Gotland
The Swedish government has decided to form a new regiment on Gotland. From the beginning the regiment will count 350 soldiers but that number is expected to grow successively, reports svt.se. The headquarters for the new regiment will be in Visby. This is the first establishment of a new regiment in Sweden since World War […]
Estonia receives Javelin anti-tank missiles
Estonia has received the first delivery of Javelin Block 1 missiles. Javelin is a man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missile that is produced by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. That announces the Estonian Ministry of Defense. The missiles will replace the old MILAN system in both the army and the voluntary Estonian Defense League. Last year Estonia received […]
US approves sales of Guidable MLRS and air-to-air missiles to Poland
The American Defense Security Cooperation Agency has approved the sale of the HIMARS rocket system to Poland from Lockheed Martin. This will give Poland a potent ground-to-ground missile system capable of hitting targets at ranges up to 300 kilometers. Poland intends to equip three divisions with the high-precision missiles which will be installed on Polish […]
Russia has an inflatable regiment
Robert Beckhusen for War is Boring: This tradition of inflatable dummy tanks and phony ballistic missiles — imitasiia or imitation — is still alive and well in Russia thanks to the 45th Separate Engineer-Camouflage Regiment based in Vladimir Oblast east of Moscow. The unit has a variety of blow-up tanks, missile launchers, armored personnel carriers […]
Less than half of Germany’s tanks are working
German tanks are in a terrible condition, according to Janes: German media reported on 16 November that only 95 of the 244 Leopard 2 main battle tanks (MBTs) in service with the Bundeswehr are operationally ready. A further 53 vehicles – thought to be Leopard 2A6Ms – are being converted to the new Leopard 2A6M+ […]
Russia completes transformation to Iskander in Kaliningrad
Russia has completed the transformation to the Iskander-M missile system in Kaliningrad, according to Russian defense blog bmpd. That happened when the 152nd Missile Brigade officially received the modern missile at a ceremony last Monday to replace the old Tochka-U missiles (NATO name SS-21 Scarab). Russia is modernizing its fleet of tactical ballistic missiles at […]
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 […]
Latvia receives first howitzers
Latvia has received the first batch of self-propelled howitzers. The 155 mm/39 self-propelled howitzers M109A5Öe are part of a deal with Austria to buy a total of 47 armored vehicles. All of them are of the M109 family, but only 35 are howitzers. The remaining are 10 fire control vehicles and two machines for training […]
Is Finland setting the example for military leadership?
Finland is getting positive attention for their approach to military leadership and the remarkable defense preparedness of the Finns.
