Middle Powers And The Demand For Military Expenditures

This paper identifies and classifies middle power nations through the use of broad political science definitions, the demand for military expenditures models and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The latter is used as a simple quantifiable measure of relative and potential military power. The paper also develops and utilizes a threat variable that is applicable to middle power nations. The panel data analysis shows that the middle power nations react to threat variables that proxy global instability utilize foreign aid as a complementary policy tool along with military expenditures, and face significant trade-offs between military and non-military government spending.     

Mirror,mirror on the wall,who is the most offensive of them all? – Explaining the offensive bias in military tactical thinking

This article explores why the offensive predominates military tactical thinking. With survey results showing an offensive bias among 60 per cent of senior Swedish officers and as many as 80 per cent in the case of the army, it is clear that this is not just a problem of the past but is equally relevant today. The article asks why there is a tendency to perceive and understand offensive tactics as the preferred choice and the way to conduct battle that should be encouraged and preferred. Drawing on existing research and the findings of a pilot study, ten propositions for why the offensive bias exists are tested using a mixed-method approach. Based on the findings, the article develops a model to understand why the offensive dominates military tactical thinking. It is found that the two key constitutive factors behind the offensive bias are military culture and education. These factors most directly and profoundly influence an officer’s identity, perceptions, and thinking. Military culture and education, in turn, work as a prism for four other factors: military history, the theory and principles of war, doctrine and TTPs, and psychological factors.     

Intellectual spring cleaning: it’s time for a military “Do Not Read” list; and some sources that should be on that list

Military reading lists, intended to promote professional reading and in turn enhance education and develop critical thinking skills and sound judgement, recommend key texts to military personnel. This is a noble intent but the lists themselves, while generally good, are not flawless. Critiques of military reading lists often focus on what sources they are missing. This article offers its own critique but from a different perspective. It does so by analysing why some sources, which have become outdated, are based on faulty or incomplete research, have been thoroughly disproven, or some combination of the above, nevertheless linger on military reading lists. It then offers a short list of such sources, which it recommends be either removed from existing reading lists or accompanied by other sources that place the original source in appropriate historical context. Where applicable, it also recommends alternative sources that provide insights into the same subject matter. In so doing, this article is intended generate debate and to assist militaries to achieve a better balance between evaluation, induction and retention of valid knowledge on one hand, and rejection of outdated or flawed knowledge on the other.     

War and rumours of war,do improvements in space technologies bring space conflict closer?

Combat in near-Earth orbit is emerging as a more realistic possibility. The argument here is that changes in space technologies combined with a sea change in political rhetoric is bringing the possibility of military conflict in space technologies. This movement reflects a generational shift as the original decisions regarding military conflict in space are now being reassessed by a generation who did not experience World War II or the Cold War. For these, the sanctuary approach to space activities is not as persuasive and new enhanced space technologies bring the possibility of victory or at least survival possible during a conflict in space.     

从美国无人机的发展来看无人机在未来战争中的应用前景

从军事需求和技术推动出发,全面论述了美国无人机的发展情况,并对实战使用情况、新的无人机系列以及无人机在战争中应用的广泛前景作了分析。     

军用卫星的发展趋势分析

给出了军用卫星未来的发展趋势 ,包括成像侦察卫星、预警卫星系统、通信卫星系统和导航卫星系统的发展趋势 ,指出了小卫星应用的发展方式 ,归纳了卫星组网的设计方法和应用现状 ,最后分析了小卫星编队飞行的应用特点。     

浅谈现代军事物流及其发展趋势

随着我国社会主义市场经济的蓬勃发展和世界新军事革命的兴起,我国军事物流日益引起人们的重视。同时,也面临着历史性的机遇和挑战。本文结合我国军事物流建设现状,就现代军事物流的科学内涵、地位作用、理想形态及发展趋势进行了论述,旨在为新时期军事物流的建设与发展提供理论依据。     

空间天气对国家安全的影响研究

随着科技的发展和进步,世界各国越来越认识到空间天气的重要性,并对空间天气效应展开深入的理论和实践探索。我国也加快空间天气领域的研究进程,并取得了一定成就。本文系统介绍了空间天气的定义与发展历程,运用总体国家安全观的方法,从国土安全、军事安全、经济安全与核安全等角度分析了灾害性空间天气对国家安全的影响。在对国内外空间天气研究现状和发展趋势分析的基础上,针对灾害性空间天气的国家安全影响提出了政策性建议。     

Think again – supplying war: reappraising military logistics and its centrality to strategy and war

This article argues that logistics constrains strategic opportunity while itself being heavily circumscribed by strategic and operational planning. With the academic literature all but ignoring the centrality of logistics to strategy and war, this article argues for a reappraisal of the critical role of military logistics, and posits that the study and conduct of war and strategy are incomplete at best or false at worst when they ignore this crucial component of the art of war. The article conceptualises the logistics–strategy nexus in a novel way, explores its contemporary manifestation in an age of uncertainty, and applies it to a detailed case study of UK operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.     

军事通信卫星及其下行链路性能研究

随着航天技术、数字通信技术、信息安全技术等的发展,一些军事大国恣意进行空间“武器化”,掌握“制天权”,对他国的安全构成严重的威胁。介绍了军事通信卫星及其优缺点,以及在现代战争中的应用,并对军事通信卫星的下行链路进行有效干扰的一些性能数据进行了分析和计算机仿真。