11/16/2021
The industrial strategy for the modernisation of the Turkish armed forces - By Martin Everard
"The rise of the Turkish defense industrial and technological base has taken place in five successive stages that have enabled a country suffering from a significant technological backlog to create a 5th generation fighter development programme in 30 years. Until the mid-1990s, the Turkish army went through a known pattern, applied by many countries, of modernizing its forces by purchasing weapons abroad. American tanks and aircraft, German ships and submarines, the Turkish army was equipped with weapons systems designed and produced abroad, sometimes second-hand. There are, however, some early examples of the second phase, co-production and licensed production, in the history of Turkish army procurement."
09/07/2021
The transfer of Russian arms to Libya: revealing the role of private military companies - By Claire Courtin
"These irregular forces, tolerated in practice, continue to operate in a legal and regulatory limbo, intervening in several theatres of operation. While the Middle East is the area with the most actions by Russian private military companies, they have also played a role in Ukraine and the suspicion of their presence in Nagorno-Karabakh has fuelled debate since 2020. The Russian PMC market is relatively large, consisting of companies such as RSB-Group, Moran Security Group, Redyt-Antiterror. When the issue of these irregular forces is discussed today, Wagner is the first company mentioned. Unlike the entities mentioned above, it has no legal existence, is not registered in the Russian tax database (...) The Wagner Group is considered a private military company but differs from the others, being in reality composed of mercenaries in the pay of Moscow. The relationship between the Russian political power and private military companies is today opaque."
07/27/2021
From the 2000s to the present: towards an intensification of the Russian presence in the Latin American military-industrial market - By Anaïs Fauré
"The coming to power of Vladimir Putin in 2000 brought about a total redefinition of Russia's foreign policy motivated by the ambition to restore Russia's place as a great power. Nevertheless, the Russian-American bipolarity that seemed to dominate international relations during the Cold War has given way to a new Sino-American bipolarity that considers Latin America as a theater of strategic and economic political competition, each one wishing to expand its respective zone of influence and implant its development model. In fact, today Russia has to deal with this new rivalry and deploys bilateral and multilateral relations with the region against the backdrop of a permanent and growing confrontation between China and the United States. (...)"
07/13/2021
The arms race of the space powers: Militarization of space and space defense strategy - By Léna Verpoest
"The militarization of space thus begins almost at the same time as the origins of the conquest of space. However, as the Cold War ended and the geopolitical context changed, new states and private actors emerged to take part in the conquest of space. The XXIst century is thus marked by a renewal of instabilities in a context where each State tries to become a real space power. The multitude of actors and the advent of new and more efficient technologies represent a geostrategic revolution in a context where security challenges are numerous. States are developing real space doctrines and now consider space as the fourth domain of military actions (...) and wish to integrate their space capabilities to military operations (...) All this, in order to ensure their power and autonomy. (...)"
06/29/2021
The Rafale's international success, a vector of superiority at the service of French strategic ambitions - by Eva Burgat
"Launched in 1986 and entering service in 2002, the Rafale has been slow to sell. After failing to win bids in South Korea, the Netherlands, Singapore, Morocco and Brazil, the French fighter has had to face up to its reputation as an unsaleable aircraft. But it looks like 2021 will bring particularly promising prospects for the French fighter. The Rafale has gradually established itself as a real operational system, having acquired a certain technical maturity and proven itself in theaters of operation, making it possible to position it as the flagship of the French armament industry. (...)"
05/04/2021
The modernisation of the Chinese fleet: the emergence of an instrument of power
- by Victor Suret
"The commissioning of three different combat ships by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Saturday 24 April 2021 is both a banal and highly significant event. Banal, because China has embarked on a major naval programme that allows it to launch the equivalent of the French fleet every four years, i.e. a tonnage of around 350,000 tonnes, to reach a total of around three hundred and fifty ships. Significant, because a submarine, a cruiser and an amphibious helicopter assault ship have entered into service, illustrating Beijing's strategic ambitions and its plans for the future. (...)