NATO coalition of member states to buy up to 1,000 Patriot missiles ian Fri, 01/05/2024 - 16:31 5 January 2024 NATO on 3 January announced that its procurement arm would support a group of member countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain, with a contract to buy up to 1,000 Patriot air defence missiles. The missiles are used to defend against cruise and ballistic missiles as well as aircraft and helicopters. NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) awarded the production and delivery contract to COMLOG, a joint venture between the US company Raytheon and German compa ..read more

Update 54: Russia's war with Ukraine ian Mon, 01/01/2024 - 11:06 31 December 2023 Overview At the end of 2023 the leaders of Ukraine and Russia struck a defiant tone and vowed to reach their military goals as the war headed towards its third year. Speaking in Kyiv during a press conference on 19 December, President Zelensky sought to improve the domestic mood and maintain western support that had been faltering in recent weeks. Kyiv’s two biggest allies, the United States and the EU, failed to approve two separate support packages. The EU, however, delivered a political boost by agreeing on 1 ..read more

NATO seeks closer ties with Saudi Arabia as Secretary General makes historic visit to Riyadh ian Sun, 12/17/2023 - 11:05 17 December 2023 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg undertook a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia on 12-13 December - the first ever by a sitting Secretary General of NATO. Although Stoltenberg did not meet the Defence Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud, during his visit, they spoke by phone. According to a NATO statement Stoltenberg “underlined Saudi Arabia’s leading role in the Arab and Muslim world, and said he looked forward to the possibility o ..read more

NATO makes further large increases to its common budgets, but financial transparency and accountability remain limited ian Fri, 12/15/2023 - 15:52 15 December 2023 NATO member states have agreed the civil and military budgets for the alliance for 2024. At a meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) on 13 December 2023, a civil budget of €438.1 million was agreed, while the military budget is set at €2.03 billion, representing an 18.2% and 12% increase, respectively, over 2023. Since 2021, NATO’s civil budget has increased by 69% and its military budget by 26%. All member states contribute t ..read more

Update 53: Russia's war with Ukraine ian Thu, 11/30/2023 - 10:23 30 November 2023 Overview The Russia-Ukraine war, which began in the spring of 2014 with Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and was transformed by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, shows no sign of ending. It has been for some months now widely characterized as a grinding war of attrition, as the casualties, destruction and collateral damage have reached proportions not seen in Europe since World War II. Russia is engaged in a slow-moving campaign in eastern areas of the 1,000km frontline. Ukraine has registered limited ..read more

NATO selects Boeing’s E-7A to replace AWACS fleet ian Thu, 11/16/2023 - 14:31 16 November 2023 NATO has selected its next generation command and control aircraft as the existing Boeing E-3A Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) fleet nears retirement. Production of the six new Boeing’s E-7A Wedgetail aircraft is set to begin in the coming years, with the first aircraft expected to be ready for operational duty by 2031. A consortium of NATO member states approved the project this month. It will be one of NATO’s biggest-ever capability purchases. Although no contract value was disc ..read more

The CFE Treaty: The latest European arms control domino to fall ian Sat, 11/11/2023 - 10:55 11 November 2023 NATO allies condemned Russia’s withdrawal on 7 November from the 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), a key post-Cold War agreement, and said they would suspend its operation in response. On 9 June, Russia notified the other states parties to the CFE Treaty that it was leaving the accord, triggering a 150-day notice of withdrawal period. On 7 November that period expired and Russia formally withdrew from the treaty. In a statement Russia's Foreign Ministry said tha ..read more

Update 52: Russia's war with Ukraine ian Tue, 10/31/2023 - 14:00 31 October 2023 Overview The Russia-Ukraine war, which began in the spring of 2014 with Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and was transformed by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, shows no sign of ending. It has been for some months now widely characterized as a grinding war of attrition, as the casualties, destruction and collateral damage have reached proportions not seen since World War II. Ukraine’s summer offensive appears to have stalled while Russia’s biggest offensive in months on the eastern Ukrainian town of Av ..read more

Annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly urges allied governments to “stand by Ukraine until victory is achieved” ian Wed, 10/11/2023 - 15:01 11 October 2023 The Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 6-9 October 2023. More than 250 members of lawmakers from the 31-member states and 20 partners parliaments discussed a range of transatlantic security issues, examined the outcomes of NATO’s Vilnius Summit in July and adopted further recommendations for NATO’s adaptation. The Assembly hailed the “biggest ramp up of collective de ..read more

NATO reinforces KFOR in Kosovo ian Sat, 10/07/2023 - 15:07 7 October 2023 The first contingent of two hundred British soldiers arrived in Kosovo on 6 October 2023 to reinforce NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) peacekeeping mission. The deployment comes after the violent attack on Kosovo Police on 24 September and increased tensions in the region. The soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment are joining a 400-strong UK contingent already in Kosovo. The Romanian government on 3 October announced it was also sending some 100 extra troops to bolster KFOR. NATO has been l ..read more