Defense & Security - International Studies of Strategic and Geopolitics

Guard’s Global Reach, Capabilities Support National Defense Strategy

28Dec

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Guard’s Global Reach, Capabilities Support National Defense Strategy

ARLINGTON, Va. – What the National Guard brings to the global stage directly contributes to significant pieces of the 2022 National Defense Strategy, said Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau. “Today, we are an integral part of the Joint Force and our nation’s second-largest military organization after the U.S. Army,” said Hokanson, the Guard’s top officer and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “The Department of Defense cannot implement the National Defense Strategy without the National Guard.” The recently released, unclassified version of the NDS serves as a strategic guide for the Defense Department, outlining how it aims to meet “top-level defense priorities,” said defense officials. At the top of those priorities is addressing the “multi-domain threat ...

Putin tells Russian defense industry to up its game for Ukraine war

28Dec

By ISSGNo Comments

Defense Industry, Acquisition, and Innovation

Putin tells Russian defense industry to up its game for Ukraine war

President Vladimir Putin on Friday told Russia’s defense industry chiefs to up their game to ensure that the Russian army quickly got all the weapons, equipment and military hardware it needed to fight in Ukraine. Putin, who has cast Russia’s war in Ukraine as part of an historic effort to push back against what he says is excessive Western influence over global affairs, made the comments during a visit to Tula, a center for arms manufacturing. “The most important key task of our military-industrial complex is to provide our units and frontline forces with everything they need: weapons, equipment, ammunition, and gear in the necessary quantities and of the right quality in the shortest possible timeframes,” said Putin. “It’s also important to perfect and significantly improve the techni...

Canada Proceeds With CH-149 Mid-Life Upgrade | Thyssenkrupp is investing in Israel’s VSense Technologies | Norway Orders NSMs

28Dec

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Defense Industry, Acquisition, and Innovation

Canada Proceeds With CH-149 Mid-Life Upgrade | Thyssenkrupp is investing in Israel’s VSense Technologies | Norway Orders NSMs

Canada has tasked Leonardo with executing the CH-149 “Cormorant” Mid-Life Upgrade (CMLU) Project by awarding a contract $736 million to the Italian aerospace giant. Americas Canada has tasked Leonardo with executing the CH-149 “Cormorant” Mid-Life Upgrade (CMLU) Project by awarding a contract $736 million to the Italian aerospace giant. The mid-life upgrade of the CH-149 search and rescue helicopters will enhance the aircraft’s systems and technologies, ensuring compliance with emerging airspace requirements and extending the life expectancy of the fleet to 2042+. In addition, the upgrade will enable the return of the Cormorant helicopters to the Main Operating Base (MOB) Trenton. The upgrades will include the installation of state-of-the-art avionics, a new glass cockpit, more power...

The Ukraine war will shape global politics for years to come

28Dec

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Long-Term Futures, Europe

The Ukraine war will shape global politics for years to come

BY HARSH V. PANT * The Ukraine war will shape global politics for years to come When the year began, the debate on Ukraine had already started. Vladimir Putin was amassing his troops around Ukraine. It was widely believed that this was part of a diplomatic manoeuvre to push for a renegotiated settlement with Europe. The West was trying to ensure that war doesn’t return to Europe. The world was nervous but few believed that a full-fledged war was in the offing. And, yet, it happened, forever changing the geopolitics of Europe and the world. Since that fateful day on February 24, when the Russian invasion began, it has been estimated that more than 100,000 Russian and 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured, along with some 40,000 civilian deaths. Over 7.8 million U...

US Saw Increase in Domestic Terror Threats in 2022

28Dec

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Counterterrorism and Homeland Security

US Saw Increase in Domestic Terror Threats in 2022

WASHINGTON — Early on a December morning, thousands of German police officers launched a series of raids across the country, arresting 25 people linked to a plot by a far-right group to overthrow Germany's government. Additional arrests were made in Austria and Italy — all of them connected to the Reichsbuerger movement (Citizens of the Reich), described by German authorities as a conspiracy-driven group inspired in part by the QAnon movement in the United States. The arrests, which included a descendant of German royalty, a former lawmaker and a German special forces soldier, sparked calls for the German government to review security measures and investigate the possible infiltration of Germany's military by extremist elements. They also highlighted the shifting and increasingly comple...

US Congress authorizes 8% defense budget increase

27Dec

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Defense Budget

US Congress authorizes 8% defense budget increase

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 83-11 on to authorize an 8% defense budget increase over fiscal 2022 levels. The FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act adds $45 billion to what the White House requested in its defense budget proposal. The $858 billion NDAA — which includes roughly $817 billion in Defense Department spending — also includes a 4.6% pay raise for troops as well as billions of dollars in additional funding to help the Pentagon cope with inflation, expand capacity for the defense industrial base to produce major weapons systems and continue certain programs the Biden administration had sought to cancel. “China is actively, actively trying to undercut American interests and partnerships everywhere from Asia itself to the Middle East, to Africa and beyond,” Senate Majority Le...

Japan’s record defense budget raises concerns: FM spokesperson

27Dec

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Defense Budget

Japan’s record defense budget raises concerns: FM spokesperson

China is concerned about the significant increase in Japan's defense budget, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday, urging the Japanese side to speak and act prudently in the military and security fields. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a regular press conference in response to reports that the Japanese government on Dec. 23 agreed on a record defense budget of 6.8 trillion yen (about 51 billion U.S. dollars) for fiscal year 2023. Wang said Japan is playing up regional tensions to seek military breakthroughs, which is dangerous and has aroused strong doubts among its Asian neighbors and in the international community about whether Japan can adhere to an exclusively defense-oriented policy and path of peaceful development. "The Japanese side should seriously reflec...