Danish Chief of Defense Bjørn Bisserup has given a comprehensive interview to defense website DefenseWatch (in Danish). The interview was published on the same day that I published my review of Gerasimov’s speech, and what a difference. Unfortunately it seems to me that the Russian general has a much more realistic approach to the challenges […]
Military strategy and politics
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.
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 […]
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 […]
Missile defense is not as effective as Donald Trump believes
Overconfidence in the missile defense can lead the United States to make dumb foreign policy decisions and neglect relationships with allies.
Lithuania increases defense spending to meet 2 percent goal
Lithuania will increase defense spending to hit the NATO target of 2 percent of GDP in 2018, reports AFP according to digigataljournal.com. With that the total number of NATO countries to meet the goal is up to eight: United States Greece Britain Poland Romania Estonia Latvia Lithuania AFP quotes Lithuania’s defense minister Raimundas Karoblis for […]
From Homo Sovieticus to Putin’s man
Many Western politicians are still reluctant to acknowledge that there is a fundamental and incompatible difference in values between themselves and the current Russian leadership. At least in Denmark we often hear well-meaning politicians argue that Russia is not really a threat, and that we can continue advocating human rights and democracy while simultaneously pursuing […]