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Beneath the rubble of war, British Army medics fight a different kind of battle
War has always demanded courage, but few roles require quite the same combination of skill, calm and self-sacrifice as that of the military medic. While soldiers are trained to close with and defeat the enemy, Army medical personnel are trained…
Europe’s gunpowder bottleneck: how cotton supply chains became a defence issue
Europe’s drive to expand artillery production has exposed a constraint that sits well upstream of the factory floor: access to nitrocellulose, the key chemical used in modern propellants. Nitrocellulose is produced by nitrating cellulose, and in the defence sector it…
March launch for EU SAFE defence lending, with early tranche planned
The European Union is preparing to make the first payments under its Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defence loans in March 2026, in what officials describe as an attempt to accelerate joint procurement and address shortages in key military capabilities.…
Nightfall: Britain promises Ukraine a ballistic missile – but the hard part comes after the press release
Britain says it will help Ukraine by developing a new ground-launched ballistic missile able to carry a 200kg warhead beyond 500 kilometres. The project, codenamed Nightfall, is billed as a rapid boost to Kyiv’s long-range strike power. It is also,…
Reports of “mysterious weapon” follow US raid that seized Venezuela’s Maduro
The United States’ 3 January operation in Caracas that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has prompted a second, more opaque debate: whether US forces used a directed-energy or acoustic system to disable Venezuelan defenders during the…
After the Paris Declaration: Can Europe Deploy Troops in Ukraine?
Europe’s discussion of a multinational military presence in Ukraine has intensified after a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in Paris on 6 January produced a “Paris Declaration” on security guarantees for Ukraine. Issued by France, the declaration sketches…
A missile message to Europe: what Russia’s Oreshnik strike was meant to signal
For a second time in a little over a year, Russia has used its Oreshnik missile against Ukraine, and for a second time the political message has been louder than the physical results. The latest launch was recorded overnight on…
China, Russia and Iran join South Africa for BRICS naval drills off Cape Town
CAPE TOWN — Warships from China, Russia and Iran have begun a week of naval drills with South Africa in waters off Cape Town, in an exercise organised under the BRICS grouping as Washington escalates action against Venezuelan oil shipments.…
Oreshnik launch from Kapustin Yar reported in overnight strike near Stryi in Ukraine’s Lviv region
Russia fired a nuclear-capable “Oreshnik” ballistic missile at a target in western Ukraine overnight, the second acknowledged use of the weapon, as both sides reported a fresh wave of long-range strikes on 9 January. Russia’s defence ministry said the launch…
Small Missile, Serious Message: How Babcock Plans to Beat the Drone Swarm
In an era when the drone has become both sword and scourge on modern battlefields, a new pact between British defence stalwart Babcock and a nimble Estonian start-up could mark a decisive shift in Europe’s maritime air-defence posture. The memorandum…