Author: Michael

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans
 

The Czech Army is set to undergo a major
transformation that will eventually see the replacement of most
remaining Cold War-era equipment in favour of modern Western types.
Planned to include military hardware such as 73 Leopard 2A8 MBTs, 172 CV90
MkIV IFVs, 62 Caesar 8×8 SPGs, 4 SPYDER SAM batteries, 10 AH-1Z attack
helicopters and up to 24 F-35 stealth fighter aircraft, the Czech
Republic as a result will be in possession of a highly capable and
well-equipped military.

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On March 31, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a new Russian foreign policy concept that hailed the ongoing “formation of a more equitable multipolar world order.” The concept highlighted Moscow’s intent to strengthen its ties with the non-West, in particular “developing full-scale and trusting cooperation” with Iran and other states discontented with Western policies toward their countries. While the Russian-Iranian relationship has been strengthening for years, this showed that the alliance was deepening, especially as a result of the war in Ukraine.

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Department of Defense leaders, technology developers, self-proclaimed innovators, and many others are obsessed with the apparent lack of adoption and slow speed of integrating new technology into the military. There are many reasons that Defense Department “innovators” can point to for this apparent lack of adoption, ranging from the budget process to how the military sets requirements for new weapons developments to a whole host of bureaucratic and cultural challenges embedded in the acquisition process.

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On this sneak-peak episode of the Russia Contingency, Aaron sat down with Mike Kofman to discuss the state of the Ukrainian military’s offensive, the different axes of advance and what the offensive may be able to tell observers about the direction of the conflict. Listeners will get to hear the first 20 minutes of the conversation. To hear the rest, which examined the recent debates in Russia about nuclear weapons use and looked back at Yevgeny Prighozin’s mutiny, please consider becoming a War on the Rocks member.

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MilDef’s products include rugged laptops. (MilDef)
MilDef’s three recent acquisitions have made the Sweden-based information technology (IT) provider a more well-rounded supplier to its military customers, according to company officials.

MilDef, which was traditionally focused on manufacturing hardware, broadened its portfolio by purchasing Norwegian software business Sysint and Swedish integration services provider Defcon Solutions in 2021.

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Lockheed Martin completed another milestone in its efforts to integrate the PAC-3 missile with Aegis. (Lockheed Martin)
Lockheed Martin’s Patriot Advanced Capability – 3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor successfully communicated with the AN/SPY-1 radar, a key component in the Aegis Weapon System, for the first time, the company confirmed on 10 July.

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The Netherlands ordered three Improved Ribbon Bridge systems from GDELS – Bridge Systems on 30 June. (GDELS)

The Netherlands signed a contract for three new bridging systems with General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) – Bridge Systems on 30 June, the Dutch Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on its website the same day. A GDELS spokesperson told
Janes
on 5 July that the systems are Improved Ribbon Bridges (IRBs) and will be produced in Kaiserslautern, southwestern Germany, but he declined to give the contract value.

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