Sponsored by Bertin Exensor
www.exensor.com
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
26 Nov 25. Sweden outlines procurement priorities. The five areas include air and missile defence, long-range capabilities, robust logistics, situational awareness, and maritime capabilities. The Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) has outlined its priority focus areas to the Government of Sweden following a review process triggered in late September. Announced by the SAF on 24 November, the proposals intend to help the country better fulfil NATO capability requirements. Sweden officially became a NATO member on 7 March 2024 and has since been taking steps to integrate with the alliance. The document, titled “Considerations on the Design of Military Defence” suggests a need for a long-range capability “to meet a qualified adversary in depth” as one of its five priorities. This likely refers to Russia, against which Ukraine is now using Franco-UK made Storm Shadow cruise missiles (which have a range of 250km), and US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) with a 200km range. However, it is unclear as to whether this is the kind of long-range system sought, or whether a longer-range (1000km+) system like the Tomahawk cruise missile or Long Neptune. Another priority area outlined by SAF is ensuring control over the Baltic Sea. An area that is vital for troop mobility, reinforcements, and supplies, which demands protection from the sea and in the air. A series of NATO initiatives are already underway in the Baltic Sea, such as ‘Baltic Sentry’ which monitors undersea infrastructure, and ‘Baltic Air Policing’. Sweden is a key participant in both. The Swedish Defence Materiel Organisation – which manages procurements for the SAF – had not responded to DSEI Gateway’s request for comment on which additional capabilities might ensure Baltic Sea security, at the time of publication. Not-unrelated to this, is a need, as stipulated in the SAF’s proposal, to use multi-domain sensor networks to improve situational awareness. Along with supporting the military, it will also likely help augment NATO’s Common Operational Picture – which represents a shared, integrated battlefield picture. As is the case with many militaries currently, the SAF has identified a need to significantly bolster its air and missile defence. Noted as its fourth priority in the SAF’s proposal, the requirement is to protect its units and “strengthen the resilience of the northern flank”. The proliferation of drones in Ukraine, and Russia’s expertise in missile development are drivers of this demand. Notably, the day after these priorities were put forward, the Swedish Ministry of Defence committed SEK3.5bn (USD367m) to air defence capabilities. This includes acquiring IRIS-T SLS missiles from Diehl Defence – designed to protect ground troops – and Giraffe 1X short-range radars from domestic prime Saab. This particular announcement also highlighted a need for additional capabilities to counter “combat aircraft, helicopters, and drones”, but did not go as far as stating when they might be acquired. Finally, the SAF proposal stated that it requires a “robust logistics network”, targeting the sustainment of forces for extended periods of time. This includes leveraging infrastructure. Besides these five areas, the SAF also states that cyber defence remains a priority, as does drone development, civil defence, and the close protection of troops and facilities. Summarising the proposals, Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) Carl-Johan Edström, Chief of the Defence Staff, explained that “this is not a new plan. It is an assessment of what is required to strengthen our military capability”. Lt Gen Edström stressed that decisions now sit with politicians with regard to financing and actioning these priorities, which are intended to help fulfil the country’s Defence Resolution 2025-2030 and NATO commitments. (Source: Clarion)
08 Dec 25. Italy’s sudden defense-spending uptick lacks details, economist finds. Italy has juggled its definition of what constitutes defense spending to beef up its budget by €14bn ($16.3bn) this year, but has failed to explain how it did it, one of Italy’s leading economists has complained. Carlo Cottarelli said that Italy raised its spending, on paper, from around 1.5% of GDP in 2024 to 2% in 2025 “without a clear explanation” of how it did it. “Should we consider ourselves more secure than last year? We don’t know,” said Cottarelli, a former Italian senator and director with the International Monetary Fund who teaches at Milan’s Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. The Italian government first committed to hitting 2% in April, thus getting Italian spending to the level first promised to NATO in 2014 and never attained. The announcement was made ahead of the NATO conference in June when members agreed to raise spending again to 3.5% of GDP by 2035, plus another 1.5% on defense-related infrastructure spending. Rome released the first details of how it would hit 2% in October with the much-delayed release of its 2025 defense budget. The document said Italy would spend €31.3bn on defense this year, up 7.2% on last year, but added that various expenditures were being reclassified as defense spending to boost the budget further – at least on paper. Pension outlays would be included, as well as other budgets which would be given “a more military focus.” The document also stated that “military cooperation projects” would be factored in. Adding those outlays would make official spending shoot up by €14bn to €45.3bn, hitting the 2% target, the document stated. In a report produced by Cottarelli last month, the economist quoted a statement to parliament given this year by Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto in which the minister said reaching 2% had also involved including spending by Italy’s tax police and coast guard, as well as outlays on space and cyber defense.
“Just as other countries do,” Crosetto said.
But Cottarelli argued in his report the scant detail on the new spending was insufficient.
“It’s not clear from the words of the minister or from official documents what this reclassification consists of. Is it existing spending that now has a ‘more military’ connotation than in the past, or has it been understood that some spending is more military than previously thought? Additionally it is not known which spending is involved,” Cottarelli wrote.
He told Defense News no new information had been released since he wrote the report. The Italian defense ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Despite the complaint of lack of information about the massive leap to 2%, a NATO official told Defense News that NATO was satisfied with Italy’s reclassification of spending.
“The defense expenditures declared by Italy are consistent with the NATO definition of defense expenditure and the approach is also applied by other allies,” the official said.
Asked to give a breakdown of the spending Italy has reclassified as defense spending, the official stated, “I refer you to the Italian authorities, for any further comments in this respect.” (Source: Defense News)
08 Dec 25. Germany: Military service law will likely fuel far-left attacks on railway system, defence firms. On 5 December, the German Parliament (Bundestag) approved a new military service law designed to expand the size of the Bundeswehr (i.e. the German Armed Forces). The law will introduce voluntary military service; all 18-year-olds will be sent a request in January to gauge their interest and willingness to join the army, to which they will be required to respond. Furthermore, all men born after 1 January 2008 will be required to undergo medical valuation. There will also be financial incentives for joining the Bundeswehr. The law’s aim is to increase Germany’s number of active soldiers to between 255,000 and 270,000 by 2035. If voluntary recruitment fails to deliver sufficient numbers, the Bundestag can enable compulsory enlistment from 2027 onwards. We assess that this legislation is likely to fuel further anti-war activism in the coming months. This is likely to entail peaceful protests in urban centres, as well as far-left activism against defence and logistics companies. The sabotage of the railway system in opposition to wider German rearmament is likely, while the more sporadic sabotage of defence industrial sites is realistic. (Source: Sibylline)
05 Dec 25. Trump’s national security strategy slams European allies. President Donald Trump’s administration set forth a new national security strategy that paints European allies as weak and aims to reassert America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere. The document released Friday by the White House is sure to roil long-standing U.S. allies in Europe for its scathing critiques of their migration and free speech policies, suggesting they face the “prospect of civilizational erasure” and raising doubts about their long-term reliability as American partners. It reinforces, in sometimes chilly and bellicose terms, Trump’s “America First” philosophy, which favors nonintervention overseas, questions decades of strategic relationships and prioritizes U.S. interests above all. The U.S. strategy “is motivated above all by what works for America — or, in two words, ‘America First,’” the document said. This is the first national security strategy, a document the administration is required by law to release, since the Republican president’s return to office in January. It is a stark break from the course set by President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration, which sought to reinvigorate alliances after many were rattled in Trump’s first term and to check a more assertive Russia. The United States is seeking to broker an end Russia’s nearly 4-year-old war in Ukraine, a goal that the national security strategy says is in America’s vital interests. But the document makes clear that the U.S. wants to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah and that ending the war is a core U.S. interest to “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.” The document also is critical of America’s European allies. They have found themselves sometimes at odds this year with Trump’s shifting approaches to the Russia-Ukraine war and are facing domestic economic challenges as well an existential crisis, according to the U.S. Economic stagnation in Europe “is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure,” the strategy document said. The U.S. suggests that Europe is being enfeebled by its immigration policies, declining birthrates, “censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition” and a “loss of national identities and self-confidence.”
“Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies,” the document said. “Many of these nations are currently doubling down on their present path. We want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence.”
Despite Trump’s “America First” maxim, his administration has carried out a series of military strikes on alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean while weighing possible military action in Venezuela to pressure President Nicolás Maduro. The moves are part of what the national security strategy lays out as “a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine.” The 1823 Monroe Doctrine, formulated by President James Monroe, was originally aimed at opposing any European meddling in the Western Hemisphere and was used to justify U.S. military interventions in Latin America. Trump’s strategy document says the U.S. is reimagining its military footprint in the region even after building up the largest military presence there in generations. That means, for instance, “targeted deployments to secure the border and defeat cartels, including where necessary the use of lethal force to replace the failed law enforcement-only strategy of the last several decades,” it says. (Source: Defense News)
05 Dec 25. Drones fly over French strategic nuclear submarine base, media report. Several unidentified drones flew over France’s Ile Longue naval base, home to the country’s fleet of strategic nuclear missile submarines, according to Agence France-Presse, citing the gendarmerie police. Five drones were detected “by technical means” flying over the base on Thursday around 7:30 p.m. local time, and troops assigned to protect the base opened anti-drone fire several times, AFP said. The drones were “neutralized,” daily Liberation reported, with the newspaper saying the usual procedure involves jamming. The military prosecutor’s office in the city of Rennes has started an investigation after the overflight of several drones, Liberation reported, citing the maritime prefecture of the Atlantic. The drones for now appear to have been light and unarmed, Liberation said The drones were small models “that did not threaten sensitive infrastructure,” according to Frigate Capt. Guillaume Le Rasle, a spokesman for the maritime prefect, cited by Liberation. There was a previous drone overflight of the Crozon peninsula, of which Ile Longue is a part, in the night of Nov. 17 to 18, without flying over the military zone, according to the navy officer. The overflights are the latest in a string of drone incursions over military locations in Europe, with Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium among the countries reporting unidentified unmanned aerial systems over military air bases. France is the European Union’s only nuclear-armed power, and together with the United Kingdom one of the two countries in European NATO to have its own nuclear weapons. Ile Longue is home to four nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines in the Le Triomphant class that make up the ocean-based part of French nuclear deterrence. French doctrine prescribes a continuous-at-sea presence with at least one nuclear-armed submarine on patrol at any given time. The airborne part of the French deterrent consists of Rafale jets armed with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. France introduced a modernized version of its M51 submarine-launched strategic ballistic missile in October, with improved range, accuracy and capability to penetrate enemy defenses, according to the French Armed Forces Ministry. (Source: Defense News)
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
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.
A CNIM Group Company
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-