France and Spain Make Use of Armament Cooperation Mechanism to Purchase Upgraded Tiger Helicopters – Germany Invited by Airbus to Participate

During a press release in early March, Airbus (2022a) announced the launch of its Tiger MkIII Helicopter programme. This program entails the construction of sixty “new Tiger attack helicopters for the French and Spanish armies” (Machi, 2022). Of those sixty, forty-two have been reserved for France, while the remaining eighteen will be given to Spain. Additionally, the contract signed with Airbus gives France the option to expand its initial order by another twenty-five. Although “first flight is expected in 2025”, France will not receive its first delivery until 2029, whereas Spain will have to wait until 2030.

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Poland on its Way to Become One of the Largest Armed Forces in Europe?

Poland, a country that lies on the eastern flank of the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), is making serious efforts in defence to reorganise and rebuild its armed forces. A new draft law envisages a doubling of troop strength and a significant increase in military expenditure to counter external threats. These plans would enable Poland to become one of the largest armies in the Europe and to achieve strategic autonomy within the EU and NATO. This InfoFlash will look at what drives this new law. It will also explain what the law entails and how the country plans to finance the new plans. Finally, most importantly, what consequences this future "Great Army" could have for Europe.

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Another step towards a robust, secure, and resilient defence: NATO releases first-ever strategy for Artificial Intelligence

On 22 October, NATO unveiled its new strategy regarding the future use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This acknowledges the fact that AI is altering the state of defence and security globally and is likely to lead to more technologically advanced threats to the organisation. As such, NATO plans to keep its technological edge through a joint plan to advance its use of AI in defence and security.

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Belt and Road Initiative in Europe: Between Shapes of Cooperation and Shades of Pressure

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a global infrastructure development strategy launched by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in 70 countries (World Bank, 2018) to promote economic development and enhance connectivity between China and Central-East Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. Around 150 countries have joined BRI so far, including 18 EU members (BRI Center, 2021). What recently happened in Montenegro raised several concerns within the EU about Beijing’s approach, labelled by some observers as a sinocentric international trade network potentially harmful to the independence of some countries at the EU’s doorsteps. What then is the standpoint of both BRI and EU members? Can different attitudes towards the Chinese projects cause a fracture within an already diverse EU in terms of policies, paces to reach goals, and economic indicators? To what extent is BRI a tool in the hands of Beijing to leverage European countries by proposing offers of development that, at first glance, cannot be declined?

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Read more about the article Eurotank is on its Way
The Franco-German joint venture KNDS displayed its new European Main Battle Tank at the June 2018 Eurosatory exhibit in Paris. [https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/7DnF2X2HKanY5TK19SVJODpm0pA=/1200x0/filters:quality(100)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/G7QXPXVEV5HPRA4YFUUQVZVAWI.jpg]

Eurotank is on its Way

The benefits of a new Eurotank would be of great importance for the interoperability of European armies. A tank created by France and Germany (MGCS) would allow each involved to use it in joint operations.

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