Towards Super Soldiers? The Implications of Tech-Infusion of Soldiers and the Concept of Connected Soldiers on the Military Landscape

This Info Flash discusses the implications of Tech-Infusion of Soldiers on the Military Landscape and inferentially on the political world. In doing so, the IF first covers how tech-infusion has taken hold of the soldier and what the developments have specifically entailed before applying these findings in a wider, political scope in the second section. It finds that a lot of the developments in the area of tech-infusion are based on surpassing the boundaries of the human body and, therefore, attempting to make reality easier, and even rearrange the boundaries of reality itself. Yet one must conclude that the growing investment into tech-infusion must equally be understood in the context of the changing military and political landscape of increasing uncertainty and conflict.

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The High Representative of the Union (HR/VP) and the new Commissioner for Defence and Space: Necessary Cooperation for the Future of the European Defence Union

The recent appointment of Andrius Kubilius as the first-ever Commissioner for Defence remarks the importance of the industrial defence strategy for the Commission Von der Leyen II. However, the complementarity between this new portfolio and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/ Vice President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is still uncertain. Overlaps and conflicts of competence could undermine the role of the HR/VP and cause unnecessary delays and upset among the Member States. This leads to two fundamental questions: Where are conflicts likely to emerge between these roles, and what mechanism can push forward better coordination to strengthen European defence?

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IRIS²: A New Frontier in The European Space Programme

On December 16th, the European Commission signed the concession contract for constructing the Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS²). This space initiative involves the creation of a multi-orbital constellation of 290 satellites, leveraging the comparative advantages of satellites in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) (European Commission, 2024a). This 12-year project embodies Europe’s strategic attempt to develop a viable alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink (Volpicelli & Palasciano, 2024).

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The Art of Illusion: The Role of Decoys in Military Deception and Modern Warfare

This paper explores the evolving role of decoys in military deception (MILDEC), examining their historical significance, current applications across the kinetic and non-kinetic spectrum, and their technological evolution in response to modern detection, recognition, and identification threats. The objective is to evaluate the challenges posed by advanced detection systems, which significantly improve battlefield situational awareness, and to identify how modern Western decoy strategies are adapting rapidly to maintain their relevance within military deception.

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