The poll, conducted by the Forsa polling institute for the magazine Internationale Politik, found that 64 percent of German respondents were in favour of establishing a European nuclear shield as a deterrent, while only 29 percent were opposed.
Some 45 percent of German respondents favour spending 5 percent of GDP on defence that compared to 37 percent who oppose it, with 18 percent saying they don’t know, a poll from YouGov conducted for the Munich-based newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung showed.
A survey published on Monday by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) found that support for increased defence spending is highest in Poland and Denmark (70 percent), followed by Britain (57 percent), Estonia (56 percent) and Portugal (54 percent).
Over 56 percent of respondents polled by the opinion research institute Innofact said private investments in the arms industry were justifiable, in a significant change from 2022 when 53 percent of respondents still had reservations about investing in defence companies. Since then, the prospect of higher government defence spending in Germany and many other countries has driven many stocks to record highs.
Italy’s Leonardo, British BAE Systems and the Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. Ltd. have set up Edgewing for the design and development of their next generation combat aircraft under the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).
Airbus Helicopters and Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency will pair a H225M medium lift helicopter with the Flexrotor UAS via its crewed-uncrewed teaming system called HTeaming, integrated on board the helicopter, to allow its crew to take full control of the drone.
Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force have successfully demonstrated Manned Unmanned Teaming of two MQ-28 Ghost Bat drones with an E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft, with plans for future teaming with the F/A-18 and F-35 fighters.
Thales plans to install its AirMaster S radar on the Skydweller solar-powered, carbon-fibre, autonomous, Medium-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (MAPS) aircraft that has a payload capacity of 400 kilograms and endurance that could extend to months.
Italy’s Leonardo and Turkey’s Baykar are equal partners in LBA Systems, with Baykar to focus on design and development of advanced unmanned platforms and Leonardo to provide electronic systems, payloads, and implement Manned-Unmanned Teaming and swarming capabilities.
Sweden’s Saab has partnered with General Atomics to build a new Airborne Early Warning drone based on Saab’s AEW solutions, integrated on the General Atomics MQ-9B UCAV, intended to operate from naval warships in a manned-unmanned teaming configuration.
With plans to order three aircraft, Lithuania will become Embraer’s tenth customer for the C-390 airlifter and the seventh NATO country to select the aircraft.
France’s Thales has launched a lightweight, remotely controlled electronic warfare payload for deployment by small drones to detect and locate radio signals, capable of being operated without any specialised training.
Although no order has been placed yet, France has decided to purchase two Saab GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft with an option for two additional aircraft, while Saab has ordered two Bombardier 6500 aircraft platforms for the GlobalEye.
It turns out the U.S. Army was right about the M10 Booker. It was definitely not a light tank, being too heavy to be operated in many of the typical service conditions where it was expected. Plans for buying 96 M10 Booker vehicles at a cost of $1.14 billion are now scrapped.
The Bundeswehr had a strength of 181,150 soldiers at the end of 2024, falling short of previous recruiting targets. NATO member states are to be assigned new national targets for their military capabilities, including weaponry, that are expected to be increased by around 30%.
