Italy will not buy any more F-35s, may cancel existing order

Elisabetta Trenta assumed office as Italy’s Minister of Defense on June 1 of this year, and has already set about making changed to the nation’s military posture in keeping with her party’s populist tone. First, she announced a reduction in Italian troop counts in Afghanistan (dropping from 900 to 700) and on Friday, she announced […]

The hunt is on: NATO allies begin training against their own subs near the arctic

Anti-submarine warfare is an issue of increasing concern among NATO allies, as the Russian Navy has not only demonstrated a more aggressive stature throughout the Baltic Sea and Atlantic Ocean in recent months, but has made some particularly concerning claims about the training they’ve been conducting. Now, seven surface combatant vessels and three sub-hunting aircraft […]

Warthog pilots practice highway landings in Europe in preparation for conflict with Russia

Since Russia’s military annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO officials have been working tirelessly to find ways to effectively counter Russian aggression throughout Europe’s Eastern flank. Troops from throughout the alliance have established new commands all over the continent, and plans continue to develop to mount an even more robust defensive posture in the region. […]

The truce between the Taliban and the Afghan Government

The president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, recently announced a cease-fire between themselves and the Taliban. The proposed truce is not meant to be lasting, just to span from 12 to 19 June. In a tweet, Ghani said that, “This ceasefire is an opportunity for Taliban to introspect that their violent campaign is not winning them […]

15 US Army soldiers hospitalized after Stryker collision in Lithuania

The U.S. Army is currently participating in the large-scale military exercise Saber Striker throughout the Baltic nations and Poland. The annual exercise, which aims to increase international interoperability throughout the region in an effort to deter Russian aggression, has 18 national participants and sees U.S. troops working alongside some 18,000 troops from various other nations. […]

US to push NATO to stand up more than 30 battalions in Europe to counter Russia

In every meeting of NATO officials, there comes the inevitable conversations about burden sharing and the exchange of fiscal platitudes furnished by member states that continue to fall short of their financial obligations to the alliance. The U.S. representative, often Defense Secretary James Mattis but occasionally even the American president himself, will remind the organization […]

Secretary of Defense Mattis meets with Danish Minister of Defence

On May 25, U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis met with Danish Minister of Defence Claus Hjort Frederiksen at the pentagon. The meeting was primarily intended to discuss the ongoing NATO presence throughout the world — including in Afghanistan as well as the global effort against ISIS. They reaffirmed one another’s commitment to the military-defense relationship between […]

Colombia set to be the first Latin American nation to join NATO

On Friday, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced his nation’s intentions to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Santos, who won the Nobel Peace Prize after brokering peace with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, started his nation down this road by establishing a formal partnership with the alliance in May of last year. […]

Pakistan’s border fence: Keeping out the Taliban

Since the announcement in 2005, Pakistan has developed plans and made efforts toward building an approximate 1,500 mile fence running along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. This is an effort to hinder the Taliban’s freedom of maneuver between the countries, as well as drug runners. Pakistan aims to spend approximately $483 million in constructing the fence line, […]

Turkish President Erdogan visits London

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is visiting the U.K. on a three-day trip to meet with British officials. He brought up that the U.K. is Ankara’s second largest export target and Erdogan hopes to improve relations between the two nations in the future. During a public speech in the U.K., President Erdogan said, The […]