The Secretary-general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, announced on 27 June that the Alliance is going to increase the capabilities of its rapid reaction force (NRF) by nearly eight times. The troops dedicated to this unit are going from 40.000 to 300.000, and their characteristic is, as the name suggests, that they can deploy quickly when needed.
In response to the current hostilities in Ukraine, the European Union (EU) Commission (2022) has announced in a recent press release that it is committed to deepening its defence capabilities and broadening its defence cooperation. This goal has been reported in light of the recent informal meeting of Heads of State and Government in Versailles.
On May 13, Belgium’s and France’s Defence ministers, Ludivine Dedonder and Florence Parly signed contracts for the delivery of Nexter’s Caesar 6×6 NG (CAmion Equipé d’un Système d’ARtillerie de Nouvelle Génération) to the Belgian army.
The Associated Press (AP) reports that Germany and the Netherlands will deploy their armed forces’ Patriot Air Defence Systems in Slovakia. Notably, the deployment comes after an official request made by NATO to the two-member states; it is unclear whether Slovakia previously made a request to NATO. The deployment must be understood twofold: First, as conventional deterrence and second, as an exercise in signalling NATO’s commitment to its eastern member states.
In March 2021, the UK Government published its much-anticipated policy paper “Global Britain in a Competitive Age: The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy”. The publication of the policy paper resulted in a significant development for the UK Army’s ongoing digitalisation effort, namely the launch of project THEIA. Project THEIA, which is not an acronym but rather a reference to a figure in Greek mythology, seeks to create a change in the Army’s (digital) culture and behaviour
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