Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Kyiv on Monday for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the state of the war and the future of NATO’s support to Ukraine. The Secretary General praised President Zelenskyy’s leadership and the bravery of the Ukrainian forces and people, but acknowledged that “leadership and bravery alone cannot repel the Russian forces; you also need arms and ammunition.” He recognised that serious delays in support have translated to serious consequences on the battlefield. “Ukraine has been outgunned for months… fewer Russian missiles and drones have been sh ..read more

The first F-35A Lightning II destined for the Polish Air Force has achieved a crucial milestone as it now stands with weight on wheels at Lockheed Martin’s assembly plant in Fort Worth, Texas. This development marks a significant step in the aircraft’s progression down the production line. Earlier this month, the aircraft, known as AZ-01, was assembled using an overhead crane at the plant’s electronic mate and alignment station. This crucial phase involved joining the forward and rear fuselage sections with the wing-centre fuselage assembly. The F-35A will next move to final assembly where it ..read more

NATO ships recently participated in the French Navy-led multinational mine warfare exercise, Olives Noires 24, which took place from April 8 to April 19 in the area south of Toulon and Sète, France. The exercise, hosted by the French Navy, aimed to enhance operational readiness and foster interoperability among allied forces in response to the ongoing threats posed by naval mines to maritime security and the global maritime economy. Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 2 (SNMCMG2), which includes vessels from multiple NATO member states, engaged in a series of mine warfare operations. The ..read more

In a significant escalation of a previously disclosed cybersecurity threat, NHS Dumfries and Galloway has witnessed the full release of over 3 terabytes of confidential data on the dark web. This follows a prior breach where cybercriminals issued a ‘proof pack’ to demonstrate their possession of the data, initially reported by the UK Defence Journal. I spent much of this morning reviewing what has been released, and, quite frankly, it’s incredibly concerning. The breach involved the release of over 3 terabytes of highly sensitive information encompassing a broad spectrum of operational and per ..read more

The UK government is on high alert after a significant breach of the Ministry of Defence’s armed forces payroll system, which is suspected to involve Chinese state hackers. This breach includes sensitive information such as names, bank details, and potentially personal addresses of service personnel. While the breach has not been conclusively attributed to China, the pattern of past incidents and expert analysis suggest strong suspicions toward Chinese involvement. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, addressing Parliament today, is not expected to explicitly name China as the perpetrator. However ..read more

The British Army’s 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team (16 Air Asslt BCT) has mobilised over 2,000 troops and 500 vehicles to Estonia as part of Exercise Steadfast Defender, demonstrating NATO’s capability to coordinate large-scale military operations across Europe. Commencing their journey from Merville Barracks in Colchester, the troops utilized a combination of transport modes—road, rail, sea, and air—to cover the approximately 1,500-mile journey to Estonia. This movement tested the brigade’s expeditionary capabilities and logistical coordination, highlighting the complexity of deploying for ..read more

NATO naval forces, led by the Estonian Navy, have successfully carried out Operation Open Spirit 24, a minesweeping exercise designed to clear explosive remnants of war in the Baltic Sea. The operation, which initially started in 1998, rotates annually between Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, focusing on enhancing maritime safety and demonstrating NATO’s commitment to securing the Baltic region. This year’s operation took place in Estonian territorial waters and its economic zone, involving a total of 14 ships, 11 shore-based divers, underwater drone teams, and over 700 naval personnel from Est ..read more

In a recent deployment under the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) initiative, three Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon jets have been stationed temporarily in Tikkakoski, Finland, to participate in the United States-led exercise Swift Response. This movement also supports ongoing training missions in Estonia. The deployment highlights the RAF’s expeditionary capabilities and its readiness to rapidly mobilise and deploy air assets as needed. Squadron Leader Nick Morrison-Smith, the Detachment Commander for the RAF’s participation in the exercise, noted the strategic mobility demonstrated by this operat ..read more

In recent statements made on Twitter, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps MP, suggested that the Royal Air Force (RAF) boasts a greater lift capacity today than at any point since World War II. This assertion is inaccurate. Contrary to Minister Shapps’ optimistic portrayal, which emphasised the impressive payload capacities of the RAF’s C17 aircraft—equivalent to around 28 of the WWII-era C47 Dakotas—the actual scenario reflects a reduction in total lift capacity. Notably, the RAF has seen a significant decrease in its transport fleet due to strategic adjustments made last year. In June of the prev ..read more

In a demonstration of NATO’s integrated defence capabilities, Italian Eurofighters, based at Malbork Air Base, Poland, scrambled twice last week to secure Polish airspace as part of NATO’s enhanced Air Policing efforts. The Italian Air Force has been actively collaborating with Polish forces to strengthen regional security and showcase the Alliance’s unity. The scrambles included an incident on the morning of April 25, when NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem, Germany, directed the Italian detachment to intercept an unidentified aircraft near NATO airspace over international waters ..read more