DefenceTalkSweden said Wednesday it would provide Ukraine with military and humanitarian aid worth more than $350 million to help it cope with the upcoming winter. Stockholm will contribute military aid worth some three billion kronor ($286 million) plus additional humanitarian aid of 720 million kronor ($69 million), the government said. The military aid will include […]https://www.defencetalk.com/sweden-to-send-military-humanitarian-aid-to-ukraine-79613/

DefenceTalkFrance is planning its biggest ever military exercise involving 12,000 troops, including NATO allies, in the first half of next year, a commander at the chiefs of staff said Tuesday. The scenario calls for a major conflict with an unspecified foreign state to be played out, said Yves Metayer, commander of the troop deployment division […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-to-conduct-biggest-ever-war-games-in-2023-79603/

DefenceTalkSweden’s new prime minister said Tuesday he was open to allowing nuclear weapons on Swedish soil once the country becomes a NATO member, a turnaround from the previous government’s stance. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who took over the reins in Sweden two weeks ago, was speaking in Helsinki at a press conference with his Finnish […]https://www.defencetalk.com/new-swedish-pm-says-open-to-nukes-under-nato-79586/

DefenceTalkNorway, a NATO member that shares a border with Russia in the Arctic, will raise its military readiness, the prime minister said Monday, stressing no direct threat had been detected. “The military will as of tomorrow raise its preparedness in Norway,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told reporters. “We currently have no reason to believe […]https://www.defencetalk.com/norway-raises-military-readiness-but-pm-says-no-direct-threat-79572/

DefenceTalkRussia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Sunday held rare calls with NATO counterparts in which they discussed Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry said. “The situation in Ukraine, which has a steady tendency towards further, uncontrolled escalation, was discussed,” by Shoigu and French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu, the ministry said. Later on Sunday, the ministry said […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-discusses-ukraine-in-string-of-calls-with-defense-chiefs-79543/

DefenceTalkSpain on Saturday said it would send 14 fighter jets to Bulgaria and Romania to bolster NATO’s eastern flank as the defence alliance strengthens its deterrence capacity following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Madrid will send six Eurofighter jets and 130 soldiers to Bulgaria between mid-November and early December to train local forces, the Spanish defence […]https://www.defencetalk.com/spain-to-bolster-natos-eastern-flank-with-14-fighter-jets-79536/

DefenceTalkNATO on Monday launched its regular nuclear deterrence drills in western Europe, after tensions soared with Russia over President Vladimir Putin’s veiled threats in the face of setbacks in Ukraine. The 30-nation alliance has stressed that the “routine, recurring training activity” — which runs until October 30 — was planned before Moscow invaded Ukraine and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-holds-routine-nuclear-drill-amid-russia-tensions-79527/

DefenceTalkFrance will deploy more troops and equipment to Romania in the coming weeks and step up its presence elsewhere in eastern Europe as war grinds on in Ukraine, Defence Minister Sebastian Lecornu said Tuesday. The decision, by President Emmanuel Macron, “to bolster our defensive position on Europe’s eastern flank” will be made as part of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-to-step-up-military-deployments-in-eastern-europe-79504/

DefenceTalkDoomsday could start with a football — the so-called “nuclear football” as the attache case carried wherever the US president goes is popularly known. The rather awkwardly stuffed black bag doesn’t look like much, the only clue to its importance being that it never leaves the hand of a uniformed military aide. But inside are […]https://www.defencetalk.com/from-football-to-biscuits-how-biden-would-launch-nukes-79497/

DefenceTalkPolish officials said Friday they had distributed anti-radiation tablets to fire departments nationwide in case of exposure triggered by the war in neighboring Ukraine, while denying there was cause for alarm. The move came in response to fighting around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — Europe’s largest — which has raised fears of a nuclear […]https://www.defencetalk.com/poland-preps-anti-radiation-tablets-over-nuclear-threat-79452/