With the economic crisis making no exceptions for the German defence budget the pocket calculator could soon become vital equipment for the Bundeswehr. How can the armed forces continue making a dependable, efficient and affordable contribution to German and European security and defence? It is...

The EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is on the verge of collapse due to a lack of common resources and capabilities. Indeed, the EU Member States have an excess of some things, such as frigates and fighter aircraft, but an inadequate supply of other important components, including...

Medium altitude, long endurance drones are becoming a component of regular air forces. However, the extent to which manned aircraft are being replaced by such "MALE UAVs" (MALE = Medium Altitude, Long Endurance, UAV = Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) remains unclear. At present Germany is faced with...

At the 2010 Lisbon summit, the NATO allies decided to develop a joint missile defence system as a core element of collective defence. Since then, the security environment has changed fundamentally. The hopes of cooperating with Moscow on missile defence have been shattered, while the nuclear...