Europe appears to have accepted the prospect of acting independently of the United States, with a new rearmament program proposed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, last week.
Europe plans rearmament without U.S.
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Tag: Ukraine
Ukraine, U.S. shake on ceasefire, military aid & intel
| Ukraine agrees to U.S. ceasefire pitch in exchange for resumed military supplies and intelligence
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Ukraine has agreed to a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia in exchange for resumption of suspended military aid and intelligence after talks between the two countries in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Arms sales jump as global supply struggles to meet demand while defence budgets grapple with national politics
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As NATO races to supply Ukraine before Trump takes office, Europe is struggling to touch two percent of its GDP on defence expenditure while Russia plans to spend more than 32 percent of its national budget on its military.
German defence minister: Ukraine no longer a regional war
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Russian President Vladimir Putin “has long since switched completely to a war economy,” and the country is currently producing as many weapons and ammunition in three months as the entire European Union does in a year, Pistorius said.
Ukraine fires long-range weapons inside Russia, Putin changes nuke doctrine
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Ukraine struck Russia’s Bryansk region with U.S.-supplied ATACMS systems while President Vladimir Putin has signed into decree, his country’s revised nuclear doctrine, which has enlarged the conditions under which adversaries would be subject to nuclear deterrence.
Germany’s Scholz speaks with Putin for first time in nearly 2 years
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Shortly before the conversation with Putin, however, Scholz also reiterated in remarks to parliament that Germany would not supply Ukraine with the long-range Taurus cruise missiles, which Ukraine has repeatedly requested.
Survey finds Germans favour hiked defence spending
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In the September survey, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius’ (SPD) proposal to increase defence spending to 3% to 3.5% of the gross domestic product received 50% approval, while 15% said that was too low.
Kremlin awaiting first move from Germany after hints from Scholz
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No signals have as yet been received from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on resuming dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite statements to the effect by Scholz, according to the Kremlin.
German Cabinet approves new military service model to boost numbers
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Russia’s war on Ukraine has prompted Germany to revisit its defence posture, which increasingly suffered from a lack of investment since the end of the Cold War as imminent threats appeared to diminish. The legislation must now pass through Germany’s two houses of parliament. It could come into force in May of next year.
German Defence Ministry faces shortfall of €6 billion
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German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that the Bundeswehr needs around €58 billion ($63 billion) in 2025 to quickly close capability gaps. “As things stand, we will be allocated around €52 billion”, he said, adding, “That means we will be short of almost €6 billion next year.”
Legal trouble for defence, drone companies
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Chinese drone manufacturer DJI is facing trouble doing business in the U.S with all kinds of legal hurdles and has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Pentagon, while Raytheon has been fined almost $1 billion and Sweden’s Saab has been subpoenaed for its sale of Gripen fighters to Brazil.
Rheinmetall, Leonardo to build tanks in Italy
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German arms company Rheinmetall and Italy’s Leonardo will build the Panther KF51 Main Battle Tank for the Italian Army via a new company in addition to building a thousand variants of the Lynx Infantry Fighting Vehicle.
Australia, Taiwan in $$$$ missile defence buys
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Australia announced a $4.7 billion purchase of Raytheon SM-2 and SM-6 missiles and Taiwan is likely to buy three Raytheon NASAMS medium-range air defence systems in a $2 billion sale.
Ukraine orders artillery ammo plant from Rheinmetall
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The order is for a turnkey factory that will become a ‘Ukrainian Centre of Excellence for Ammunition’ to be operated by a Rheinmetall joint venture with a Ukrainian state-owned company, that will begin production within 24 months to manufacture hundreds of thousands of rounds of artillery ammunition per year.
German defence chief warns of Russian military build-up
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“The Russian army increases its number of tanks by 1,000 to 1,500 additional units every year. The five largest European NATO member states together have just half of that in their inventory,” said Germany’s chief of defence Carsten Breuer.
