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05 Sept 24. Japan, Norway sign defence industry deal. Japan and Norway have signed an agreement to co-operate on defence equipment and technology. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed on 3 September during meetings between Japan’s Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and his visiting counterpart Bjørn Arild Gram.
The two sides also said they would strengthen wider defence collaboration, including work between the countries’ defence industries, as well as military training and exercises. In a press release by Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD), Kihara said the MOU will support “strengthened future co-operation” between the countries but did not elaborate.
Citing Gram, the MoD added that the MOU and Norway’s commitment to join the UK’s carrier strike group (CSG) in deployments to Japan and the Indo-Pacific in 2025 underscored Norway’s commitment to strengthening Indo-Pacific security. Norway’s involvement in the CSG was confirmed in August. The European country will send two naval ships, including one frigate, the UK MoD has confirmed.
The newly signed ‘MOU on defence equipment and technology co-operation’ is a precursor to a deeper agreement on the Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology that Japan is required by law to sign with all its defence equipment and technology partners. Japan has signed this framework accord with 15 other countries including five in Europe – France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the UK.
The agreement establishes a legal framework to allow Japan and its partners to transfer defence technologies for activities including joint research, development, and production. The agreement also provides controls over the transfer of defence technology to a third party. (Source: Janes)
05 Sept 24. Netherlands hikes defence spending to face new threats. The Netherlands will increase defence spending by more than 10% next year, investing in new tanks, fighter jets, frigates and air defence systems in a push to strengthen its forces in the face of new security threats, the Dutch government said.
Defence spending will be increased by 2.4bn euros ($2.7bn), taking the annual budget to around 24bn euros, it said on Thursday.
“New threats demand action. Russia’s ruthless aggression in Ukraine shows an attack on the NATO alliance is no longer unthinkable,” Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said.
China, Iran, terrorism and cyber attacks also posed potential threats to Dutch national security, he said.
“It may seem we live in peace, but that’s no longer the case,” he said at the presentation of the plans at a military base in the central Dutch city of Amersfoort.
“We are being attacked daily. Our digital systems, our universities, our companies, our ports, our electricity grids. We are being spied on continuously and the number of attacks is growing.”
After years of austerity, the stimulus puts Dutch defence spending on course to meet the minimum level of 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) for the first time since NATO allies agreed on that threshold 10 years ago.
The extra budget will supply the army with tanks for the first time in more than a decade, and will be used to buy F-35 fighter jets, new navy frigates, helicopters, drones, air defence systems and ammunition, the government said.
The Netherlands has been increasing military spending since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, after years of austerity had significantly trimmed its forces.
It has also been one of the main drivers of military support to Ukraine and was among the first to deliver F-16 fighter jets to it in recent months. Brekelmans said the Netherlands would continue its military support to Ukraine for as long as it was needed. ($1 = 0.9011 euros) (Source: Google/Reuters)
05 Sept 24. Recent developments in the north of Kosovo: UK statement to the OSCE, September 2024. Deputy Ambassador Deirdre Brown underlines the UK’s concerns following the recent operation by Kosovo Police against Serbian-run municipal offices in the north of Kosovo.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The United Kingdom shares the concerns of international partners regarding the recent operation by Kosovo Police against Serbian-run municipal offices in the north of Kosovo.
We have been clear, including with Kosovo’s leaders, that actions which fundamentally affect the wellbeing of Kosovo-Serbs and other non-majority communities require careful consultation with Kosovo’s friends and security partners, in order to avoid fuelling tensions and disadvantaging the most vulnerable. We continue to urge the Government of Kosovo to ensure that non-majority communities are fully integrated into a multi-ethnic Kosovo. We continue to urge the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia to engage constructively and in good faith in the EU-facilitated Dialogue, to implement all their commitments to normalise relations between their two countries, and to deliver the peaceful, stable and prosperous future that their citizens deserve. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
04 Sept 24. Poland aiming to ramp up ammunition production. Poland wants to ramp up its production of 155mm artillery rounds in the hope of ensuring sufficient supplies if Russia attacked NATO, a senior official has said.
Some NATO officials say the Kremlin might be ready militarily to attack NATO countries in five to eight years’ time, once it has rebuilt its forces after the war in Ukraine. Moscow has regularly dismissed Western suggestions that it might consider an attack on NATO.
“Our ambition … is to have the ability to fill up Polish warehouses in parallel to achieving a full, independent capacity to produce ammunition in Poland, within five to eight years,” Maciej Idzik, board member of the state-owned Polish Armaments Group (PGZ), told Reuters.
Demand for 155 mm artillery rounds has soared in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Allies’ supplies for their own defence have been run down as they have rushed shells to Kyiv.
Like many of its allies, Poland has sent some of its own stock of 155s to Ukraine. It lacks the capacity to produce the rounds from scratch and, instead, is assembling them from purchased components.
Idzik said PGZ still needed 24 months to launch production of all the necessary parts, and aimed to be able to turn out about 100,000 per year.
One of the elements missing from Poland’s capability is the means to make multi-base propellant, with Poland considering either purchasing the technology needed for production or setting up a joint venture with an already established producer.
While Idzik said he “would prefer that we were the direct owner”, a joint venture would give Poland rights to sell its produced shells abroad.
The European Union is seeking to expand the bloc’s ammunition production capacity to 2m shells annually by the end of 2025 by allocating 500m euros ($552m) in funding to increase shell supplies to Ukraine and replenish EU stockpiles.
“The ambition of Poland, but also of PGZ in this context, is for the warehouses to be full and for there to be enough ammunition to repel the enemy,” said Idzik, pointing at Russia and its allies.
Poland’s 2025 budget envisages record defence spending of 186.6bn zlotys ($48.19bn), 4.7% of GDP. ($1 = 3.8722 zlotys) (Source: Reuters)
30 Aug 24. At Europe’s Atlantic edge, Ireland to focus on undersea monitoring. Ireland is doubling down on subsea monitoring, a discipline of naval warfare the country has so far largely overlooked but that represents a key capability in the context of the country’s strategic location on the northwestern edge of Europe. The Irish government published its latest Defense Policy Review earlier this summer, which sets the posture of the national military forces in response to current security threats.
“Ireland’s security environment is undergoing a period of profound change; our geographic position and policy of military neutrality no longer minimize threats posed by malign actors,” the document stated.
The wider field of maritime security is among the listed priorities, for which the review recommends buying a naval surveillance radar and sonar capability to monitor undersea goings-on in the waters around the island.
The plan is to combine these capabilities into an integrated monitoring system for the air and land domains as well with the acquisition of a ground-based air defense system.
Dublin’s waters are located in a nexus of a wide network of undersea cables, the global seafloor links through which roughly approximately 97% of global communications and internet traffic travels. According to public broadcaster RTE, three-quarters of all cables in the northern hemisphere pass through or near Irish waters, most of them off the southwest coast.
Any disruption or sabotage to these cables could have significant repercussions for the international economy and services.
The new defense review also says new capability development will focus on sub-sea, littoral and critical maritime infrastructure to enhance naval defense and enable the operationalization of inshore patrol vessels acquired from New Zealand in 2022.
Meanwhile, officials are in the process of developing a new national maritime security strategy, led by the country’s Department of Defense, which likely will flesh out Dublin’s subsea ambitions.
In an attempt to grow the country’s role in securing sea communication lines, the Irish government received lawmakers’ approval in July to join the Italian-led Critical Seabed Infrastructure Protection project of the European Union.
The initiative, launched in May 2023, is part of the Permanent Structured Cooperation, or PESCO framework, where seven EU member states collaborate to improve their underwater surveillance assets and capabilities.
While the addition of Ireland to the project represents an important step in its expansion of subsea know-how, it was met by criticism from other lawmakers, who viewed the move as straying it away from the country’s longstanding policy of military neutrality. (Source: Defense News)
03 Sept 24. Defence spending cuts could be made to tackle £22bn black hole, Healey warns. Potential cuts in spending on defence could be announced as “tough choices” lie ahead, the Defence Secretary has warned.
John Healey said a reduction in spending, including those on defence, could be required to tackle a £22bn “black hole” which Labour claims it inherited from the previous Conservative government.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has reportedly warned the upcoming Budget on 30 October will be “painful”.
Mr Healey told the BBC: “Across government we are now all dealing with public finances this year that are far worse than we or anyone else thought before the election.
“This is probably the worst inheritance of any government in living memory, so that is why both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have talked about tough choices, choices that we would not want to make or have expected to make, including on defence, that we will make because we have to get a grip on the public finances.
“We have to see growth back in the economy, and that is the way that we can rebuild both the wealth of this country as well as the public services.”
Labour previously announced a 6% pay increase for members of the Armed Forces, and other public sector workers. Furthermore, the Prime Minister promised to eventually increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP. Since taking office, the Government also pledged that military aid would continue for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s illegal invasion. (Source: forces.net)
02 Sep 24. Turkey-US: Assault on US servicemen reflects rising anti-US sentiment, risks facing foreign nationals. On 2 September, members of the nationalist Turkey Youth Union (TGB) assaulted two US servicemen in Izmir (Izmir province); they placed a white sack over one serviceman’s head. Following the incident, the Turkish police detained 15 TGB members, including the group’s president, Kayahan Cetin. The incident reflects growing anti-US sentiment, particularly among youth groups. The ongoing Israel-Hamas war and US support for Israel has likely exacerbated this trend. We assess that the risk of physical assaults and attacks targeting foreign nationals in Turkey, particularly US nationals, is therefore slightly elevated. However, we also assess that such incidents will continue to be rare and sporadic. Protests will act as the main hotspots for such incidents, particularly pro-Palestine protests. Mass casualty events in Gaza and/or the West Bank (both Palestinian Territories) will likely prompt such gatherings. In the coming days, there is a realistic possibility that the security forces will crack down on TGB branches, elevating the risk of arbitrary detention facing local staff. (Source: Sibylline)
03 Sept 24. Britain and the US plan to extend indefinitely the treaty governing technology sharing between their nuclear weapons programmes, as both nations embark on costly modernisations of their deterrent to counter arms proliferation by adversaries. The change — formally recommended by the UK and US governments but subject to legislative ratification by both sides — scraps the Mutual Defence Agreement’s previous 10-year limit and follows warnings by the UN that Russia’s war in Ukraine has sparked a global race for nuclear weapons. China, labelled an “epoch-defining challenge” by London, is expanding its arsenal of nuclear warheads at a rate that some foreign officials say could put the country on a par with Russia. North Korea has also increased its stockpile of warheads after talks to limit them collapsed in 2019. The proposed change to the MDA also comes after Britain, the US and Australia launched Aukus, a trilateral defence pact aimed at countering China’s presence in the Indo-Pacific with nuclear-powered attack submarines. The vessels, built by the UK and Australia and deployed by Australia’s navy, will be equipped with the latest US technologies but not carry nuclear weapons. “Putting the [US-UK] nuclear-sharing arrangements on a permanent footing is quite a substantial change in their relationship,” said David Cullen, director of the Nuclear Information Service, a UK think-tank. “It provides a permanent underpin to the modernisation of the UK’s nuclear deterrent. It also locks in co-operation over Aukus.” (Source: FT.com)
02 Sep 24. Germany: Risk of domestic unrest has increased after far-right election victory in Thuringia state. On 1 September, the hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party secured first place in the Thuringia state election. This marks the first time since German reunification in 1990 that a hard-right party has won a state election (the AfD’s Thuringia faction is constitutionally classified as right-wing extremist). In Saxony state, the AfD came in second place behind the centre-right Conservative Democratic Union (CDU) party. Despite the result in Thuringia, the other parties have ruled out co-operating with the AfD, meaning it is highly unlikely to be able to govern. However, forming a government without the AfD will require a significantly uneasy mix of parties. Additionally, if the final result confirms that the AfD has won at least 30 seats, the party will have the ability to block certain appointments in the state parliament. In the coming days, we assess there will be a heightened risk of both far-left and far-right protests against the election outcomes in Dresden and Leipzig (both Saxony), as well as Erfurt (Thuringia). The risk of attacks against politicians in Saxony and Thuringia is also elevated. (Source: Sibylline)
30 Aug 24. France-Serbia: Fighter jet agreement highlights geopolitical balancing, waning Russian military ties. On 29 August, the Serbian government signed a contract to buy 12 Rafale fighter jets from the French defence firm Dassault Aviation during French President Emmanuel Macron’s two-day visit to the country. The purchase is the latest evidence of Serbian President Aleksandr Vucic’s efforts to balance his country’s geopolitical relationships. The agreement also points to a weakening of Russia’s traditional position as the predominant supplier of equipment to Serbia. In total, 12 agreements were reached between Belgrade and Paris, including on the exploitation of critical and strategic raw materials, which likely reflects France’s interest in Serbia’s substantial lithium deposits. By granting preferential European access to the country’s raw materials, Belgrade will likely attract more transparent foreign investment in the coming years. However, we continue to assess that Serbia’s EU accession remains a distant prospect, and that this will continue to be hampered by concerns over corruption and Belgrade’s longstanding tensions with Kosovo. (Source: Sibylline)
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Founded in 1987, Exensor Technology is a world leading supplier of Networked Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) Systems providing tailored sensor solutions to customers all over the world. From our Headquarters in Lund Sweden, our centre of expertise in Network Communications at Communications Research Lab in Kalmar Sweden and our Production site outside of Basingstoke UK, we design, develop and produce latest state of the art rugged UGS solutions at the highest quality to meet the most stringent demands of our customers. Our systems are in operation and used in a wide number of Military as well as Homeland Security applications worldwide. The modular nature of the system ensures any external sensor can be integrated, providing the user with a fully meshed “silent” network capable of self-healing. Exensor Technology will continue to lead the field in UGS technology, provide our customers with excellent customer service and a bespoke package able to meet every need.
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