DefenceTalkThe United States announced Tuesday it will send $100 million in additional anti-armor weapons to Ukraine. “I have authorized, pursuant to a delegation from the President earlier today, the immediate drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $100 million to meet Ukraine’s urgent need for additional anti-armor systems,” Blinken said in a statement. He […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-announces-extra-100-mn-in-military-aid-to-ukraine-78604/

DefenceTalkA total of 250 Czech army paratroopers on Monday left for Slovakia, which neighbours war-ravaged Ukraine, to build a NATO battlegroup there, the defence ministry said. The battlegroup will comprise up to 2,100 soldiers from Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United States. The Czechs will be in command of the battlegroup. “The […]https://www.defencetalk.com/czechs-send-250-soldiers-to-slovakia-to-set-up-nato-battlegroup-78589/

DefenceTalkRussia’s invasion of Ukraine has created a “new sense of urgency” among NATO member states to boost defence spending, the alliance’s chief Jen Stoltenberg said Thursday as he unveiled the organization’s 2021 report. The report itself — covering expenditures before Russia launched its war in February this year — showed just eight of NATO’s 30 […]https://www.defencetalk.com/ukraine-war-spurring-nato-allies-to-spend-more-stoltenberg-78559/

DefenceTalkSweden’s prime minister said Wednesday she hasn’t ruled out NATO membership in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after having insisted until now on her country’s policy of military non-alliance. “I don’t rule out NATO membership in any way”, Magdalena Andersson told Swedish public television SVT, adding that a review of the country’s security […]https://www.defencetalk.com/swedens-pm-says-hasnt-ruled-out-nato-membership-78556/

DefenceTalkBerlin: Outdated equipment, woeful bureaucracy, demotivated soldiers: Germany has quite a task ahead to modernize its army, which it has vowed to do in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Three days after the attack began, Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a landmark speech pledged a special budget of 100 billion euros for the military, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/how-germany-shaken-by-ukraine-plans-to-rebuild-its-military-78534/

DefenceTalkFinland must brace for Russian interference and hybrid attacks as it weighs whether to join the NATO military alliance, the security services warned on Tuesday. The Nordic nation shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Russia and has remained militarily non-aligned since the end of World War II to avoid provoking its eastern neighbour. But Russia’s […]https://www.defencetalk.com/finlands-spy-service-warns-of-russian-interference-attacks-78530/

DefenceTalkIn a muddy car park in Norway’s Far North, Finnish troops show off their military might, lining up rocket launchers, artillery and snowmobiles as they prepare to train alongside their NATO brothers-in-arms. While Finland and Sweden’s partnership with the Atlantic Alliance is nothing new, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed the two militarily non-aligned nations […]https://www.defencetalk.com/with-war-next-door-finland-sweden-train-with-nato-78504/

DefenceTalkThousands of NATO troops, some with little experience of operating in snowy conditions, are learning to survive and fight in freezing temperatures in exercises above the Arctic Circle. Up in Norway’s Far North, a group of US Marines have swapped their usual desert camouflage outfits for mountain gear, thick mittens and big white boots. It […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-troops-face-chill-of-combat-in-arctic-exercises-78485/

DefenceTalkUkraine has repeated a call to Western leaders to supply Kyiv with advanced weapons to fight Moscow’s slowly advancing troops, one month after their invasion. “Our armed forces and citizens are holding out with superhuman courage, but we cannot win a war without offensive weapons, without medium-range missiles that can be a means of deterrence,” […]https://www.defencetalk.com/ukraine-urges-west-to-supply-offensive-weapons-to-fight-russia-78479/

DefenceTalkA US military plane taking part in NATO exercises has crashed in Norway, killing all four American troops on board, the Scandinavian country’s army said Saturday. The four were taking part in the Cold Response military exercises involving 30,000 troops from NATO and partner countries. About 200 planes and some 50 ships are taking part […]https://www.defencetalk.com/four-us-troops-killed-in-military-plane-crash-in-norway-78470/