Will the EU train Ukraine?

On 29-30 August 2022, Prague hosted an informal meeting of the defence ministers of the EU Member States. The main topic of discussion on the agenda was the intensification of the training of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The relevance of the topic, after seven months of the armed conflict, is also related to the counteroffensive undertaken by Ukraine. European Union Training Missions (EUTM) are one of the instruments within the EU's integrated approach and, in general, they aim to strengthen the military capabilities of the EU's partners. To this end, EUTMs support the improvement of partner armed forces through training and advising on force reform to increase the effectiveness of defence sectors.

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Sweden Signs Deal for Advanced Thermal Weapon Sights

The Swedish Ministry of Defence has awarded a $50 million worth public tender to Leonardo DRS for the supply of thermal weapon sights. The American company will provide Sweden with more than 4600 infrared Individual Weapon Sights (IWS), including weapon-mounted sights, designed both for small guns (3,100 units) and for long-range arms, such as heavy machine guns and sniper rifles (1500 units).

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Polish Defence and modernization push: HIMARS

On May 26, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak announced that he had begun the process of acquiring 500 U.S.-made long-range weapon systems, known as High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), to crown the military modernization program. Lieutenant Colonel Krzysztof Płatek, spokesman for the Armaments Agency, added that the technology transfer will be for an internal Polish effort known as HOMAR.

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Legal Uncertainty Around the use of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems in International Armed Conflicts

Autonomous weapons systems incarnate one of the most debated evolution in warfare. War is based upon a simple negative definition of a lawful targets and the conduct of hostilities. Hence, only an authorised party can legally kill another according to the jus in bello. However, with the development of new technologies, legal questions arose around the use of lethal autonomous weapons systems in international or non-international conflicts.

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How Italian Military Expenditure Reveals Rome’s Defence Strategy

At the end of July 2022, the Italian Ministry of Defence presented to the Parliament the yearly Documento Programmatico Pluriennale (DPP), a policy paper outlining both the provisional and final defence budget for the 2022 fiscal year and the 2022-2024 triennia. The document offers insight into the activities involving the Ministry of Defence, as it defines the political priorities that the Ministry’s technical and administrative apparel must implement through the management of the allocated financial resources.

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