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18 Jul 25. Supreme Allied Commander Europe Says NATO Looking to Innovate Like Ukrainians. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the Ukrainians have continuously innovated to find the kinds of equipment they need for defensive operations. The allies of NATO might study the work done there and find out how to do it themselves, said the supreme allied commander Europe.
“All of us who’ve studied warfare know that there’s nothing like combat operations to drive innovation; when your life depends on it, you change what you’re doing,” said Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich during a session yesterday at the 2025 LANDEURO symposium in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Until recently, with the invasion of Ukraine, Grynkewich said, he’d not seen how that need to innovate in conflict would look in a digital age that includes unmanned capabilities and additive manufacturing technologies.
“One of the lessons that I’ve taken away is we’ve got to figure out what mechanisms we can build in all of our militaries that allow that same pace of innovation that the Ukrainians have done so successfully,” he said, while addressing an audience of NATO military leaders and defense industry experts. “Down at the brigade level, they’re able to have a relationship with an industry partner that drives innovation — not in a matter of years, but in a matter of days.”
What the Ukrainians have done while defending themselves, he said, is something NATO military leaders could study, reflect on and incorporate into their own formations. The general also spoke to military leaders and the defense industry, both in the U.S. and in Europe, letting them know NATO is now in the market for innovative technologies, that industry needs to step up and that defense leaders need to make it easier for industry to meet the needs of NATO military partners.
“We have a shopping list; the shopping list comes from our plans, and we can tell industry exactly what it is that we need,” Grynkewich said. “For all the leaders that are out there, it’s our job, I think, to hold industry accountable to deliver quickly and to hold ourselves accountable for giving industry the ability to deliver quickly through our acquisition processes.”
Equipping NATO with what it needs must happen fast, Grynkewich said.
“We need real capabilities, and we need them delivered as soon as possible,” he said. “We can’t afford to wait. Future pledges are no longer enough. We need things to start showing up in the armies and in the air forces and in the navies of the alliance as soon as they can.”
What that will require, Grynkewich said, is that the defense industry across the alliance, in both North America and Europe, will need to ramp up.
“To do this, the defense industrial base on both sides of the Atlantic going to have to become fully activated, in my view,” he said. “There’s plenty of work to go around, and it’s a false choice to think that we can only invest in one or the other. It needs to be one seamless industrial base that can deliver capability and capacity for the alliance.”
What NATO needs to accomplish its goals, Grynkewich said, is investment — and now it has that.
Last month, Grynkewich said, NATO allies agreed to spend 5% of their gross domestic product on contributing to their own defense, a “historic accomplishment.”
“This demonstrates will across the alliance and every single nation backing the military requirements we have with a commitment to getting those requirements into the field,” he said. (Source: U.S. DoD)
21 Jul 25. Belgium to add F-35s, spend billions on anti-air in defense catch-up. Belgium will buy more F-35s, a third frigate and spend bns of euros on air defense as part of an updated strategic plan approved by the government on Friday, with the country seeking to fix capability gaps after decades of being one of NATO’s lowest spenders on defense. Belgium’s military requires a “thorough transformation” to create a force fit to deter and for high-intensity warfare rather than expeditionary missions, Defence Minister Theo Francken wrote in a foreword to the 100-plus-page Strategic Vision 2025 report. In addition to more hardware, the plan calls for raising the number of military personnel by around a third by 2034.
“A country like Belgium can only remain free and sovereign by aligning itself with loyal and powerful partners,” Francken said. “And we can only count on their loyalty if we are prepared to show solidarity in their defense.”
The new Belgian government earlier this year agreed to lift defense spending to 2% of GDP, for a budget of €12.8bn (US$14.9bn) in 2025, breaking with decades lingering at the bottom of NATO’s defense-spending tables. The country allocated an estimated 1.29% of GDP to defense in 2024, with only Spain doing worse. As part of the strategic plan published on Friday, Belgium is budgeting €34.8bn in capacity commitments for 2026-2034, with €24.7 bn of the funds to be spent over the period.
“Through concrete commitments, the government aims to restore the country’s diplomatic credibility,” Francken said. “It’s against this backdrop that this new strategic vision has been approved by the government.”
The current defense budget can’t patch all the gaps left by years of under-investment, and Belgium will focus on priority areas, according to the report. Those include making its medium motorized brigade fully operational, creating layered air defenses, building up ammo supplies to ensure readiness, adding air-combat capability and expanding maritime surface-combat capacity. Planned purchases include an additional 11 F-35 fighters for a budget of €1.67bn, with orders planned next year. Belgium has already ordered 34 of the jets, with eight delivered so far and the entire fleet expected to be operational early 2031. High-intensity operations and new threats such as drones and hypersonic missiles make strengthening the air force component “absolutely necessary,” while the war in Ukraine has demonstrated the need for air power to avoid a stalemate, according to the report. Belgium currently lacks any ground-based missile defense, and will buy 10 NASAMS systems from Kongsberg for €2 bn, with orders in 2026, as a first step to gradually building up an anti-air capability. The aim will be to defend the entire territory, with a focus on sensitive infrastructure, according to the plan – Belgium is home to Europe’s second-busiest port in Antwerp as well as NATO headquarters in Brussels. The government also intends to buy three long-range air-defense systems, with a budget of €2bn and a first commitment planned in 2029. For the long-range systems, full interoperability with the air-defense capacities of the Netherlands “must absolutely be guaranteed.” While the report didn’t go into details, Belgium’s northern neighbor operates the U.S. Patriot system. The budget plans over the period also include €13.9bn for the country’s land motorized capability, of which €6bn are for combat maneuver. Belgium says it’s committed to providing NATO with a motorized medium brigade, a motorized light brigade and a joint motorized medium-combat reconnaissance battalion together with Luxembourg. The medium brigade will have around 7,800 troops and 2,700 vehicles of various types, with the goal of being able to field the completed brigade in 2030, particularly in a NATO context. To bolster the naval component of the armed forces, Belgium plans to buy a third anti-submarine warfare frigate, for a budget of €1.3bn. Belgium and the Netherlands each ordered two ASW frigates from Damen in 2023, with the Netherlands saying last year it would double its order as part of increased defense spending. The country also plans to order a third MQ-9B SkyGuardian drone in 2027 for a budget of €254m.
The Belgian government in April agreed to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP in 2025 and maintain that level through to 2033, before an increase to 2.5%. After the NATO meeting in June, where allies agreed on core defense spending of 3.5%, the government will “study the modalities” of a potential increase, Francken said. Based on the current plans and economic outlook, Belgian defense spending would rise gradually to €16.5 bn in 2033 before a jump to €21.3 bn in 2034, according to the strategy report. Belgium’s strategic goals for 2035 are to prepare for a high-intensity military conflict in a context of collective defense, protect its territory and to anticipate future warfare, according to the report. The government goal is to increase military personnel to 29,000 by the end of 2029 and rising to 34,500 personnel by the end of 2034, from 26,200 troops at the start of this year, while also more than tripling the number of civilian defense staff. Belgium additionally plans to expand its reserve force five-fold to 12,800 by the end of the planning period, as well as introduce a voluntary military service year for young adults in 2026, following the example of the Dutch service-year program started in 2023. Francken said the threat of war is now greater than at any time during the Cold War, and Belgium lacks readiness in all areas, including a population that is insufficiently informed and aware of the reality of military threats. The U.S. pivot to Asia means Europe is forced to assume a certain level of strategic autonomy, and Belgium argues for developing a European defense pillar within NATO, according to Francken. An end to the war in Ukraine could prompt Russia to test the solidarity of NATO, for example by invading a Baltic country or through a targeted missile attack on an alliance member, the latter of which could include Belgium, the strategy report said. (Source: Defense News)
19 Jul 25. Thousands of Airbus jobs at risk over MoD contract. One of Europe’s biggest defence companies has warned that thousands of jobs in Britain would be put at risk if the Government awards a military satellite deal to an American rival. Airbus has privately told the Ministry of Defence that a failure to secure a contract to build the next generation of Skynet 6 satellites could threaten £10bn worth of potential exports. The company is currently trying to secure work from the Japanese government and various Middle Eastern countries. However, this business relies on Airbus’s status as a trusted British partner and executives fear that a snub from London would sink the deals. That would in turn cause serious problems for the company’s UK space division, multiple people briefed on the situation said. Without the extra work, the future of the company’s flagship satellite facilities in Stevenage and Portsmouth – which employ a combined 3,000 people – would be put at risk. They are seen as the jewels in crown of the UK space industry, with Sir Keir Starmer taking German chancellor Friedrich Merz on a tour of the Stevenage site during a visit on Thursday. But at present, the UK division only has enough work to sustain it until the end of this decade. Ben Bridges, chairman of Airbus Defence and Space UK, has also previously warned that Britain’s sovereign ability to design and make satellites is critical to its status as a global “space power”. On Friday, a spokesman for Airbus declined to comment. The MoD is expected to put the latest Skynet contract out to tender as soon as next week, with Airbus and US defence giant Lockheed Martin the only two companies in the running. Airbus has built all of Britain’s Skynet satellites to date. The bus-sized devices orbit the Earth from more than 22,000 miles away and provide vital, secure communications used to keep troops connected with bases back in Britain, coordinate missile strikes or transmit targeting data. Airbus is facing a challenge from Lockheed, which has offered to set up a UK satellite manufacturing base. Ministry of Defence insiders say the American giant is also offering advanced capabilities that are not available from Airbus satellites. (Source: News Now/https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/)
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