DefenceTalkThe Kremlin on Friday published a revised military doctrine that labels NATO a fundamental threat to Russian security, and reflects the dramatically deteriorated relations between Moscow and the West. Approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the doctrine decries the “reinforcement of NATO’s offensive capacities directly on Russia’s borders, and measures taken to deploy a global […]https://www.defencetalk.com/new-russian-military-doctrine-labels-nato-security-threat-61216/

DefenceTalkRecent close shaves between Russian fighters and civilian aircraft highlight the dangers of the cat-and-mouse game being played out between Moscow and the West in European skies amid the crisis in Ukraine, analysts say. In the latest incident, Sweden said Friday that a Russian military jet nearly collided with a passenger plane south of Malmoe […]https://www.defencetalk.com/danger-in-the-skies-as-russia-nato-play-cat-and-mouse-61181/

DefenceTalkThe F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter program office announced today the European locations for heavy engine and heavy air frame maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade facilities. “In the European region, F-35 initial air frame MROU capability will be provided by Italy by 2018,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan told reporters. Bogdan is […]https://www.defencetalk.com/f-35-european-maintenance-sites-announced-61122/

DefenceTalkNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has voiced concern about Russia’s “aggressive” behavior. He told a press conference that the alliance was working on a “spearhead” to deter any possible threat. Beginning early next year NATO will have a new reaction force ready, which can be deployed more rapidly on its eastern border. This new force, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-prepares-spearhead-to-ward-off-russia-61095/

DefenceTalkRussia on Wednesday called for Ukraine to stay out of the NATO alliance, insisting that a “non-aligned status” was in the interests of the ex-Soviet country. “There is no doubt that (Ukraine’s) non-aligned status is important not only from the point of view of ensuring stability in the European Atlantic but also from the point […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-urges-ukraine-not-to-join-nato-61035/

DefenceTalkNATO member Poland said Tuesday it will acquire combat drones as part of a multi-billion-euro revamp of its armed forces amid heightened tensions with Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis. “We will use these drones to defend our territory,” Deputy Defence Minister Czeslaw Mroczek told AFP. “My Ukrainian counterpart informed me that one […]https://www.defencetalk.com/poland-to-buy-armed-drones-amid-ukraine-crisis-60956/

DefenceTalkRussian military flights over European airspace are raising tensions and pose a potential danger to security and to civilian aircraft, a US military spokesman said Friday. The United States was concerned about the flights of Russian warplanes and was tracking the activity “very closely,” Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters. “We certainly don’t see these […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russian-flights-over-europe-raise-tension-us-military-60927/

DefenceTalkNATO detected and monitored four groups of Russian military aircraft conducting significant military manoeuvers in European airspace over the Baltic Sea, North Sea/Atlantic Ocean, and Black Sea on 28 and 29 October 2014. These sizable Russian flights represent an unusual level of air activity over European airspace. Eight Russian Aircraft Intercepted over North Sea / […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-tracks-large-scale-russian-air-activity-in-europe-60910/

DefenceTalkFinland’s next government will have to grapple with the difficult decision of appropriating additional funds to update Finland’s aging defence armaments. This added funding will mean that the money will have to be cut from other national priorities, said Minister of Defence Carl Haglund in a television interview Saturday morning. “As it is, the public […]https://www.defencetalk.com/finland-needs-new-fighters-for-defense-credibility-minister-60866/

DefenceTalkNATO fighter jets intercepted a Russian spy plane over the Baltic Sea after it breached Estonian airspace, the alliance said Wednesday in the latest of such incidents amid tensions with Moscow over Ukraine. The Ilyushin IL-20 “intelligence collection aircraft”, which took off from the Russian Baltic coast enclave of Kaliningrad on Tuesday, was first intercepted […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-spy-plane-intercepted-in-nato-airspace-alliance-60824/