Read more about the article Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg meet in Rome to Discuss Ukraine, Defence Spending and Mediterranean Security
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg meet in Rome to Discuss Ukraine, Defence Spending and Mediterranean Security

On 8 May 2024, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome, Italy. Their discussion mainly focused on what will be at the heart of the upcoming NATO Summit, taking place in July in Washington, with the war in Ukraine leading the conversation (ANSA, 2024a). The Secretary General reiterated that sending boots on the ground to Ukraine is currently not an option for NATO, nor something that the Ukrainians have asked (ANSA 2024b). Instead, what Ukrainians are in desperate need of is additional military aid, especially in light of the recent territorial advance by the Russian army in the northeastern region of Kharkiv (Dettmer, 2024).

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21 May 2024
Read more about the article Western military and financial support to Ukraine
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Western military and financial support to Ukraine

After more than two years of war, Ukraine is experiencing a shortage of ammunition and military equipment, since the United States and European partner's struggle to resupply the country’s military (Bertrand & Bo Lillis, 2024). The lack of ammunition and personnel is having direct consequences on Ukraine’s position on the battlefield, as it deteriorates, Russia achieves new tactical successes near the village of Berdychi and Semenivka, both north of Avdiivka (Al Jazeera, 2024) a city captured by Russia in March 2024. The threat of a Ukrainian significant loss has prompted the European Union, the EU Member States, and the United States to consider sending military and financial aid packages in 2024 to respond to Ukraine’s shortages.

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15 May 2024
Read more about the article Back to Basics: Europe’s Struggles and Successes with 155mm Shell Production
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Back to Basics: Europe’s Struggles and Successes with 155mm Shell Production

The early days of the war in Ukraine seemed to favour agile and relatively innovative capabilities which appeared to be the new protagonists of future battlefields. In fact, the fate of the war appeared to rest on Stingers and Starstreaks, Javelins and NLAWs, FPV commercial drones and on the Bayraktar TB2. However, as the chaotic first phase of the conflict ended, the focus shifted to the centuries-old king of battle: artillery. Much has been written on the rediscovered importance of artillery at the tactical and operational levels (Oltei, Potin, & Clarke, 2024). In contrast with the precision-oriented doctrine prevalent in the West, the war in Ukraine is revealing how precision- guided munitions can only complement and not substitute conventional indirect fire. The industrial capacity to produce this military ordinance en masse can indeed still determine victory on the battlefield. This analysis will thus focus on the 155mm NATO-standard artillery shell, the European states’ ability to produce it, and their significant shortcomings and progress.

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30 April 2024
Read more about the article Mobilising Artillery – Developments, Challenges and the Russo-Ukrainian War
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Mobilising Artillery – Developments, Challenges and the Russo-Ukrainian War

As a key instrument in the long-range destruction, neutralisation, and suppression of enemy positions, artillery has long been indispensable in warfare, evolving from early contraptions used to hurl rocks and shoot arrows to the modern battlefield’s exceptionally mobile and accurate cannons launching highly explosive projectiles (Defense Technical Information Center, 1983). On the modern battlefield, artillery possesses several unique abilities. It can operate close to and in cooperation with ground forces to destroy and degrade enemy ground capabilities near the front lines, its range allows it to target vast swathes of territory with heavy indirect fire, it can be operated day and night, is fairly mobile, and can be concealed to boost survivability (McGrath, 2013).

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26 April 2024
Read more about the article Ammunition Aid: Kosovo’s Contribution to Ukraine’s Defence
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Ammunition Aid: Kosovo’s Contribution to Ukraine’s Defence

The announcement made by Ejup Maqedonci, Kosovo's Minister of Defence, during the 20th Meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on 19 March 2024 is a significant development in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Kosovo's pledge to provide military aid to Ukraine underscores the country’s political alignment with both the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) and its willingness to join collective efforts in support of Ukraine's defence. Kosovo has committed to supply two military aid packages, which includes essential resources such as trucks, tactical vehicles, armoured personnel carriers, and mortar artillery shells. This is the first time the country has provided military assistance to Ukraine. Amidst Ukraine's acute shortage of ammunition, a confluence of factors including the political deadlock in the US Congress and production constraints in Europe have accentuated the severity of this situation. This prompts a closer examination whether Kosovo's military aid package, though undoubtedly valuable, sufficiently grapples the enormity of Ukraine’s ammunition crisis.

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9 April 2024