The Re-Emergence of Unmanned Ground Vehicles in Army Modernisation Efforts

The dawn of the new century seemed to promise an impending revolution in modern warfare in which unmanned, weaponised systems could augment the capabilities or even replace human elements from the battlefield. The use of unmanned systems in parallel or in lieu of human units factors would not only diversify and augment current military capabilities but also reduce the human risks of operating in hostile environments, even allowing to act in otherwise inaccessible scenarios.

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Racing to 6G

The Pentagon is engaging in an effort focused on 6G research and technologies as part of a military push to modernise communications and connectivity. Previously, the Department of Defense (DoD) said it had allocated $1.77 million for the Open6G industrial-university cooperative. This initiative is part of the ambitious Innovate Beyond 5G program, overseen by the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

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The challenge of digital sovereignty

With the recognition of cyberspace as a domain of operation, conducting covert cyber espionage and cyber interference has become more accessible, threatening public institutions and global companies. Hence, cyberspace plays a part in modern warfare. It offers many opportunities but also brings great challenges for national security.

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Russian Ministry of Defence Launches Military-Technical Exposition in Moscow

From 15 to 21 August 2022, Moscow will host the eighth edition of the Military and Technical Forum ARMY 2022, organised by the Russian Ministry of Defence. The exhibition features approximately 28,000 military and civilian items presented by over 1,500 Russian and foreign companies from the defence industry. During the inaugural ceremony, Russian Federation’s president Vladimir Putin declared that “…Russia stands for the broadest, all-around development of military-technical cooperation”, without missing the chance to address Western countries, as he commended the Kremlin’s allies and partners for “not bowing down to the so-called hegemon”. Putin remarked that these allies would be granted access to Russia’s most modern types of weapons, including artillery, warplanes and drones. Attendees to the exposition will look at the new generation of T-14 Armada tanks, Sprut-SDM1 light amphibious tank, K-17 Boomerang wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, Medved and Tiger wheeled armoured vehicles, and advanced unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) such as the Orlan-10E.

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Rethinking Military Service in Europe

From 2023 Latvia will rely again on conscription, after abandoning it in 2007, when the country joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The decision was taken to strengthen army forces, that now rely only on 7,500 active soldiers and national guardsmen (Euronews, 2022). The Russian invasion of Ukraine created the need to reinforce the army potential, and conscription – the mandatory enlistment of people in the national armed forces of their citizenship country – helps to reach this goal by increasing the number of reservists. The Latvian Ministry of Defence plans to recruit some 500 young men aged 18-27 twice a year; Riga hopes the quotas will initially be filled by volunteers, with the compulsoriness becoming effective only at a later stage (Balčiūnas, 2022).

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