In his State of the Union address, President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia would no longer participate in the NEW START treaty. This suspends the last nuclear weapons protocol between the United States and Russia. The New START treaty envisages caps on the number of nuclear weapons and broad inspections of nuclear sites.The treaty went…
Energy self-sufficiency of field camps has always been a goal of military forces and housekeepers. After all, logistics chains are vulnerable, complex and expensive. But given the austerity measures of recent decades, there has often simply been a lack of funds to set up appropriate research projects for the military on the necessary scale. The…
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has highlighted the importance of a comprehensive defense capability against the full spectrum of military threats. Russia is deploying unmanned systems, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and hypersonic missiles in Ukraine many times. This highlights the importance of an effective air defense capability to counter future threats. With the European…
Sixteen NATO countries, along with invited countries Finland and Sweden, have launched a new initiative. This is designed to transform the way NATO collects and uses data from space, significantly improve NATO’s intelligence and surveillance work, and support NATO’s military missions and operations. The initiative, called Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space (APSS), consists of establishing…
The German Ministry of Defense has awarded Rheinmetall a contract on behalf of Ukraine to supply 35mm ammunition for the Gepard anti-aircraft gun tank. The Ukrainian Forces will receive a total of 300,000 rounds. The main goal of the ammunition is to support the Ukrainian armed forces. These forces are using the Gepard in the…
The “Zeitenwende” is more than just a word. It is an instruction that needs to be convertred into armaments efforts, cohesion, a comprehensive approach, defence strategy and national security policy. Major General (ret.) Reinhard Wolski, chairman of the Berlin Security Conference, summarizes the discussions throughout the event on the Blue Sofa. Watch the entire interview…
There is a lot of confusion around what the German “Zeitenwende” actually means. MP and BSC congress president Wolfang Hellmich visited our Blue Sofa and talked on speed and aquisition in the context of the special funds earmarked for the German armed forces and the legal hurdles that go along with it. As well as…
Paid by the Bundeswehr Special Fund, Bundeswehr Medical Service is receiving new airborne mobile rescue centres. Among other equipment the light medical facilities, in which emergency medical and surgical first aid is provided to patients, have an ambulance, an operating theater and intensive care capacities. Last week, German procurement agency BAAINBw commissioned the company M.…
The special fund of €100 billion is a statement and symbolic number for the will of German government to transfer Bundeswehr into a capable and empowered armed force again. After more than a decade of cost-cutting, which was named focus on deployment, capability for national and alliance defence is at stake. Shortage within Bundeswehr starts…
NATO’s strategic concept, which has been resolved in Madrid, focuses on collective defence and regional responsibility. With this it heralds a shift of paradigm. Rightfully so, says General (ret.) Jörg Vollmer, Strategic Advisor for the BSC and Behörden Spiegel. In this shift the European section of NATO needs significantly increase it’s contribution to European Defence…