Is France becoming a WARmonGeringNation
With Macron SCORPION program to modernize all the French army
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3ZkiJWWXZM
211,448 views May 18, 2024 #themilitaryshow
TRANSCRIPT
after the fall of Aviva in February 2024 French president Emanuel macron stated
that the West should do everything it could to make sure Russia does not Prevail in Ukraine he pointed out that past taboos like sending long-range missiles to the Ukrainian military had already been broken therefore the West should not rule out potentially putting boots on the ground macron who called the meeting where he made these remarks represented a nation whose higher ups are increasingly worried about the Russian economy's transition to a wartime footing to the French such a transition and its contribution to renewed Russian Effectiveness on the battlefield greatly threatens the security of Europe Europe would therefore need to see to its defense and the maintenance of a First Rate domestic defense industry as part of this broader security Focus France is rearming again and bidding to reclaim the place it had occupied for centuries the most powerful military State on the European continent in this video we will look at France's arms buildup and what its efforts mean for Europe's broader defense posture despite its utation France has long been a large military spender in Europe even in the period of Peace after the end of the Cold War France never fell far below NATO's 2% Benchmark its lowest military expenditure between 1991 and 2022 was 1.8% of GDP in January 2023 Paris announced it would increase military spending by more than a third between 2024 and 2030 the result is that the military budget would have doubled since president macron came to office in 2017 17 in addressing this new increase macron acknowledged that the post Cold War era which he called a peace dividend had come to an end the new military spending he said would be designed to make France a forward-thinking military capable of being one war ahead major investments in the new buildup would include drones cyber warfare and intelligence the strategy would be one designed to fight a peer or near-peer conflict as opposed to the asymmetric operations France has long taken part in on the African continent which mostly involve rapid skirmishes and counterinsurgency operations with low-level Firepower France is currently ranked as the world's 11th most powerful military in the Global Firepower index it has a 200,000 strong active duty army with an additional 26,000 in reserve and 15,000 paramilitary Personnel it has a robust Air Force with 972 total aircraft 224 of these are Fighters 118 are transports 140 are trainers 44 are special Mission planes 17 are tankers and 447 are helicopters 69 of which are of the attack variety on the ground France is a lot more vulnerable it only has 222 active tanks and not all of them are ready to be deployed it has over 85,000 other military vehicles but only 96 self-propelled artillery units nine multiple launch rockets or mlrs systems and no toad artillery units these rankings were current as of January 2024 this comparon a atively small stockpile is a big problem for the French and Europe as the war in Ukraine has revealed how rapidly these assets can be destroyed in a peer or near peer conflict Russia's tank losses have been notorious but even at the height of its Effectiveness in the Summer and Autumn of 2022 Ukraine was still losing two tanks a day which would only give the active French tank Fleet a few months before depletion to address these deficiencies France began a 20-year military modernization program called project scorpion which began its concept phase in 2010 and officially launched in 2014 that date was no coincidence as it marked the start of the troubles in Ukraine Russia's actions back then signal to Paris that the postc Cold War peace dividend might be on its last legs the next year France reversed its trend of budget cuts to its military and began to spend more on defense in 2016 the French government pledged $6.7 billion over the following 11 years as part of the Scorpion program a major part of this program is to modernize France's tanks and vehicles project scorpion set out to upgrade 200 L cler main battle tanks as the centerpiece of its vehicle Centric Focus additionally there are ongoing upgrades to over 1,800 Griffin armored personnel carriers and 978 sural Vehicles New procurements have been part of the armored buildup too with France setting out to acquire over 2,000 new serval vbm L Vehicles 625 new vbci infantry fighting vehicles and 300 new ebrc Jaguar armored reconnaissance Vehicles the Jaguar was introduced into service in 2022 and is a major improvement over the earlier AMX 10 RC and ERC 90 Sagi Vehicles which are steadily being retired the Jaguar is a good choice not only for reconnaissance but also as a fire support platform it's 40 mm Cannon MPP anti-tank missiles and remote controlled 7.62mm machine gun are well suited to making it a mobile Firepower unit it also has smoke grenade launcher to help protect it from enemy fire it has a top speed of 90 kmph and a range of 800 km the Jaguar is cheap and it saves expenses on both of the earlier Vehicles it replaced and it uses the same chassis as the vbm Griffin which in turn is based on a commercial truck Chassy although the price of1 million was the original intent the vehicle sophistication and enhanced capabilities led to a unit price of approximately 5 million many of the parts needed for the Jaguar can instead be adapted from civilian sources the Jaguar is therefore capable but also easily replaceable in a peer or near-peer conflict making it ideal for France's new focus on high intensity state-based Warfare the upgrades to the vbm Griffin have the same idea in mind all of the project scorpion upgrades and new acquisitions have been done under the operations of a Consortium of French companies such a move was meant to ensure a robust domestic defense sector the companies involved in this initiative included nexter tales and Renault trucks defense the first 68 9 of the new sural vbm vehicles are expected to enter service by next year as mentioned Military Intelligence capabilities are a key part of the Scorpion buildup specifically France seeks to emulate the data sharing attributes of the United States armed forces which allow unprecedented interoperability of arms to destroy targets as needed for example an F35 fighter jet could use its stealth qualities to penetrate an enemy Air Defense Zone and find a target of opportunity but rather than giving away its position by open its internal weapons Bay to fire a missile it can call upon a cruise missile strike from a ship at sea or an artillery strike from a high Mar system hundreds of miles away sharing the precise coordinates of the enemy through its unprecedented sense of fusion and situational awareness although ground forces are not quite as capable France is looking to increase its vehicles's situational awareness this part of project scorpion is called combined collaborative combat as an example the Jaguar is loaded with sensors and electronic warfare measures it has an antaris missile alert system that has 360° coverage and the tales barge an active jamming device that interferes with improvised explosive devices there is also an acoustic sensor mounted to the roof to spot enemy gunfire this is called the Metra pillar V the antara system will also be equipped on the upgraded lerks and Griffin apcs providing the new vehicles with improved situational awareness will help to create a smarter military capable of sharing data between branches and creating something like a French kill web and an example might be a Jaguar using its sophisticated sensors to approach an enemy attack position this would normally be dangerous but the accurate data it would provide would then be sent to air or artillery support to wipe out the enemy tanks and move on to the next task this is the way in which more lightly Armed American soldiers in Iraq were often able to get the better of Iraqi tank units so France's new vehicles while not being quite as capable as those of the United States will still provide intelligent powerful and reliable platforms for its Armed Forces they will also be far more replaceable meaning that the French economy would not need to spend years retooling for a war in order to make them producible at the scale needed to deal with the attrition rate of a peer-based battlefield in contrast Vehicles like the US Army's Striker infantry carrier require much more specialized parts that will be difficult to produce in a peacetime economy aside from its Hardware upgrades and new procurements project scorpion aims to enhance interoperability between the armies of Europe for example Belgium has cooperated with France in producing the jaguar and it too operates the vehicle in 2019 Belgium announced it would buy at least 60 Jaguars and 382 Griffins this makes cross training and shared Logistics between the two countries easier indeed Belgium has cooperated with France in supporting and operating the vehicles in 2021 Luxembourg was assessing whether it too should join France's project scorpion for president macron this inter-european cooperation is an essential part of his strategy for France years before the Russian invasion of Ukraine he was one of several prominent European policy makers urging the necessity of a security posture for Europe that was independent of the United States to him while American cooperation and the NATO alliance remains essential Europe needed to do more to create a stable security framework through its own actions especially given the turbulent domestic politics in the United States and a shifting foreign policy focus in Washington European countries in other words could no longer afford to be the Free Riders that President Obama and Trump had accused them of being the war in Ukraine and dwindling American Support as its presidential election year ramped up spurred his comments in February 2024 we cannot wait for the outcome of the American elections to decide what our future is going to be it's the future of Europe that's at stake so therefore it's up to the Europeans to decide if others want to join in and help fantastic but that's just an added bonus macron insisted that Europe must take the lead in supplying Ukraine with badly needed ammunition and must further buttress a domestic defense industry he supported estonia's idea for the European Union to issue defense bonds for such a purpose although the Germans and Dutch are so far resistant to this proposal the expansion of project scorpion to include other countries in Europe would be a natural evolution of this philosophy France has already filled a scorpion modernized Brigade and plans to field its first Scorpion modernized Armored Division next year however the French have no plans to stop with project scorpion more recently Paris has announced a second phase of the broader military modernization push a phase it calls project Titan which was launched in 2018 while scorpion largely focused on France's Fleet of lighter Vehicles Titan's primary objective will be to modernize and better equip the country with heavier instruments of war such as tanks artillery helicopters and aircraft Titan's primary objective is to deliver the necessary combined arms equipment for high-intensity state-based Warfare as part of an all aspect approach to Warfare according to Charles badwan a retired General in the French army who led scorpion in the technical section Titan will aim to aggregate the lower intensity experiences seen in the war on terror with the higher intensity type of warfare seen in Ukraine strategies to counter anti- acccess area denial systems are a big part of project Titan and France is carefully studying how this A2 ad environment might evolve before it makes big purchases as the action in Ukraine has revealed the importance of Rapid infantry response and situational awareness via drones Paris is likely pleased with the emphasis of the earlier project scorpion and a new push to make capable drones is natural France is also well aware that these lighter more mobile forces have defeated heavier units such as tanks through the use of systems like portable anti- armor weapons and even commercial drones armed with anti-tank grenades a study of these emerging realities will influence the purchases and improvements of heavy equipment under Titan the emphasis on situational awareness and data sharing seen in Project scorpion will be continued in Titan as part of this Focus the French army is working with the procurement office to create a high capacity Data Network set to enter service after 2040 in May 2022 Arnold gon a colel in the French army who was attending a conference on land weapons hosted by France's F po Think Tank described the effort as a strategy of simultaneity he mentioned that Titan was not just about Platforms in other words it was about software as much as Hardware extending a combat Cloud for the country's Ground Forces is a way to follow up on Project scorpion drive to deliver lighter and medium vehicles to the French military and further improve their situational awareness as part of this the French plan to use a Next Generation communication system that calls on metadata and is enhanced with artificial intelligence to speed up data sharing and decision-making all project scorpion Vehicles will be upgraded with the breakthroughs that Titan produces enabling an extension of their service life which is important because even the new Jaguar will be entering the middle of its ordinarily expected service Life by the time Titan updates are all finished Titan partially aims to cover the gaps that project scorpion will leave in its wake once it's completed one of the bigger gaps in scorpion was the relative lack of defense against anti-tank missiles and drones the French brass also expects the new Titan produced vehicles to come with intelligent robotics at least in a few cases once the French brass gets a complete review on the demands for heavy equipment on the modern Battlefield project Titan plans for a number of Hardware upgrades the centerpiece of these upgrades will be a successor to the clerk tank which has been in service since the early 1990s details are sparse as to whether this is officially a part of project Titan but France and Germany have been collaborating on a new tank since at least 2018 back then the leopards manufacturer Germany's kmw company and France's next to defense systems which makes the ler collaborated to produce a hybrid of the two tanks and demonstrated their capacity to work together France and Germany have decided to create a Next Generation main battle tank under the moniker of main ground combat system the two countries intend to replace their respective main battle tanks with the product of the mgcs by 2040 in 2018 Janes noted that the date could be moved up a few years because the collaboration between the two countries was already well Advanced there are also reportedly unmanned systems to go along with the new tank the two countries are also working on a new artillery project called the common indirect fire system this will be a self-propelled Howitzer which will replace France's Caesar and Germany's pzh 2000 this new artillery is expected to enter service by around 2035 in building the new artillery system titer will draw on two European Union studies on future artillery systems these are the future indirect fires European solution fires and the European common long-range indirect fire support system e-colors these studies each got a budget of almost $4 million and are expected to be completed this year fires will look at potential Next Generation 155 mm r artillery shells and Rockets while e-colors will consider an improved European 155 mm Cannon and whether this and a rocket launcher can be mounted on a hybrid truck the French are looking to the skies as well hoping that Titan will create a Next Generation helicopter to replace the tiger which came into service in the 1990s project Titan also aims to create a replacement for the Mistral 3 the Mistral is a family of short-range air defense missile systems that can be deployed from Vehicles ships helicopters and even a portable configuration development of this system began in 1974 and it entered service in 1989 the Mist 3 boasts better Imaging processing abilities and enhanced engagement against targets that have minimal heat signatures such as drones turbojet powered missiles and fast attack craft at distances up to 7.5 km the mistal 3 is also resistant against electronic warfare countermeasures the Titan replacement will presumably improve on these attributes it will be a mobile ground to air low altitude system bwan claims that project Titan aims to offer total superiority by 2050 obstacles remain for the project however for example it's unclear if the mcgs project will go off without a hitch the potential for the French and Germans to reduce their level of cooperation in the face of pressures from competing interests from other companies who want a place at the table remains these are companies such as Germany's rhin metal and KRA mui vman who have expressed their intention to be part of the new tank project Rin metal is also working on its own new tank the KF 51 Panther which it began developing in 2016 it plans to Target leopard operators for sales of this tank meanwhile another competing tank the enhanced main battle tank might also threaten the mcgs this vehicle is manufactured by the aforementioned KDs both companies would naturally like to see their projects Prevail over the mcgs idea nevertheless France is banking that project Titan will successfully enhance its military capability Paris is confident enough that it's looking even further into the future than Titan perhaps this is because of the ongoing success of project scorpion which has generally delivered its Ambitions on time and on budget looking further ahead there's also project Vulcan which invests heavily in cyber warfare and will attempt to make the French army compatible with modern robotics by 2040 another part of the war in Ukraine that France has tried to internalize is the renewed power of defensive armaments and the role that new technologies held by civilians plays on the modern battlefield for example civilians equipped with smartphones and drones can help to transmit the locations and movements of armed forces to other parties threatening operational security finding answers to these challenges will be an important part of France's broader military buildup despite its reputation in some segments of popular culture the French military has remained a capable and experienced fighting force however the war in Ukraine has driven home key vulnerabilities in paris's Arsenal and approach to Warfare especially in vehicles drones and artillery systems France has seen no choice but to adapt to Modern geopolitical and Military realities France was long Europe's leading military power now with the United States increasingly focused on countering China in the Indo Pacific region and its uncertain domestic politics making its commitment to European security less clear Paris once again aims to take up the mantle and create a momentum that will allow the rest of the continent to follow in its wake if project scorpion Titan and Vulcan succeed as intended the French will be on their way to Fielding a fighting force that will not only serve paris's needs but have a chance to serve as the pivot of European military Affairs as it had generally between the 14th and 19th centuries but will these projects succeed as Paris and president macron intend don't forget to let us know what you think in the comments also make sure to hit the like button and subscribe to the channel for more military analysis from military experts now go and check out how the German military will become Europe's most powerful or click this video instead after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 the idea of geopolitics as a zero sum game of winners and losers quickly fell out of fashion since then Western leaders have largely sought to guarantee peace through close mutually beneficial economic ties with traditional enemies but has it actually worked out well in the case of Europe and Russia this Doctrine backfired badly European purchases of Russian energy did not deter Putin from invading Ukraine instead Putin used Europe's Reliance on Russian energy as a mechanism of blackmail however one major Western power has consistently bucked this philosophy and is finally reaping the benefits of self-sufficiency France so how did they do it France has a long independent streak among America's allies Charles deal famously took the country out of NATO and the country has maintained a uniquely strong nuclear power sector rather than accepting dependence on cheap Russian gas in recent years this has helped keep Energy prices and inflation under control while the UK and Germany have slid into recession another dimension of the French strategy of self-sufficiency is military production among Western countries the French government is unique in insisting that French weapons are completely homegrown while Germany Sweden Britain and Italy have significant arms Industries they often incorporate American-made systems this isn't a one-way exchange either the American M1 Abrams uses guns designed and manufactured in Germany this has traditionally left France as something of a Maverick even if its weapons were as good or better compared to German and American offerings prospective arms buyers usually preferred the political and diplomatic benefits of partnering with Berlin or Washington if a state's leaders didn't desire ties with the us or were cautious of being vulnerable to us sanctions led by Russian weapons so what changed from 2009 to 2013 France was the number five arms exporter having lost its traditional number four spot to an ascendant China Russian arms sales were nearly six times greater and it was unimaginable that it could lose the number two spot to France but that's exactly what happened every 5 years the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute or cpri publishes a report Trends in international arms transfers according to the last three editions French arms sales have more than doubled in the past decade while Russian arms exports have fallen by 60% the rise of France and the fall of Russia has been happening slowly before our eyes for the past decade and the Diplomatic and economic fall out of the Ukraine war suddenly finalized the process and what a difference a decade can make after the disillusion of the Soviet Union the new Russian Federation inherited the overwhelming majority of the ussr's famous or rather Infamous weapons industry it retained the ability to produce already prolific weapon systems like the AK assault rifle line the T-Series tanks shakoy and Mig Fighters and various types of ships while the war in Ukraine has exposed serious flaws in some of these systems buying Soviet and Russian weapons was nonetheless a complete affordable alternative to buying weapons with strings attached from the United States during the crisis years of the 1990s the Russian government experienced severe revenue shortfalls and the arms industry survived largely thanks to the continued demand for Soviet Legacy systems as later as 2008 analysts with the Russian Think Tank cast the center for analysis of strategies and Technologies observed that the nation with the largest numbers of the best Russian tanks wasn't Russia at all but was in fact India however the the Russian arms industry was rapidly approaching a new peak in weapons development domestic Acquisitions and exports so how did they turn it around Rising revenues from oil and natural gas together with Vladimir Putin's Ambitions in Eastern Europe marked an increase in domestic arms purchases during the next decade Russia reaped most of the benefits of growing weapons demand particularly with increased sales to China and India from 2009 to 13 Russia supplied 52 states with weapons and led the world in tank and ship sales s pre estimates that Russia's most important category of major weapon sales was aircraft which accounted for 43% of all exports in 2009 cast estimates that sales of all Aerospace equipment constituted 60% of Russian military exports Russia accounted for 27% of the global weapons exports from 2009 to 13 at the same time the us only commanded 29% of global arms sales and it seemed possible Russia might become the leading arms exporter meanwhile France was Far Behind either of those two Titans French weapons accounted for just 5% of global arms exported in this period but that was all about to change France had a world-class weapons industry and was no stranger to foreign Partnerships as it had partnered with the United Arab Emirates to fund the development and manufacturer of the excellent L clerk main battle tank however France struggled to find a large arms export Market arms procurement is a political and diplomatic process and European leaders generally prefer buying American or German weapons while Russia dominated oceanana and Asia fast forward a decade and Russian armed sales are at an all-time low total Russian arm sales tumbled by 177% from 2013 to 18 compared to the previous 4-year period and have since collapsed by 53% while Putin's Russia has been Burning Bridges and drawing International condemnation in the run-up to the war in Ukraine Emanuel macron has been building relationships and promoting French weapons in a persistent charm offensive together with Rising doubts about the quality of Russian weapons and the reliability of Russian arm sales France's dalt rafale multi-roll fighter has been on the attack against Russia not on the battlefield mind you but in Russia's most important arms Market while Russia sold weapons to more than 50 states in 2009 to 13 and over 30 before Ukraine war sanctions set in the Russian arms export Market has always been remarkably centralized India has been the largest arms importer for the majority of the last 12 years and until recently it purchased more than 50% of its weapons from Russia when Russian arm sales peaked India was by far its biggest customer Not only was India buying the most arms in the world but from 2009 to 13 it purchased 75% of its weapons from Russia the next largest buyer of Russian weapons is China while China had developed a fairly impressive arms industry by this time it still relied on Russia for various systems and types of equipment next up was Algeria while it was a much smaller customer than China Russia virtually monopolized Algerian arms purchases these three states single-handedly accounted for 60% of all Russian arms sales and similar customers like Venezuela weren't far behind so what happened two major changes set in during the span of 2014 to 18 that caused Russia to lose 177% of its sales for one Venezuela's hyperinflationary spiral and economic collapse had set in and Venezuela halted virtually all Venezuelan arms Imports more seriously Russia faced its first challenges in the Indian market throughout the 2014 to 18 period India continued to import the majority of weapons from Russia however Russia's share dropped from 75% to 58% as the Indian government took tentative steps toward diversification with relatively small purchases from Israel the United States and France China continued to make 70% or more of its arms purchases from Russia but China was also buying fewer weapons as it increasingly replaced Imports with domestic systems not only did Russia's traditional markets shrink but Russia failed to capitalize on growing demand during this period Saudi Arabia briefly displaced India as the number one arms importer worldwide and Egypt also became one of the world's leading importers Russia had virtually no presence in Saudi arms purchases and Egypt only sourced 30% of its arms from Russia opting for the French rafale over Russian aircraft this made France the largest supplier of Egyptian weapons leaving Russia in second place demand for arms was on the rise but total Russian s shrunk not only did the the volume of Russian arms sales Fall by 17% but they had lost a quarter of their share of the global market meanwhile sales of the doal rafale had singlehandedly increased France's share of the global arms Market by about 30% despite these developments Russia's position as number two arms exporter still seemed unassailable Russian arms exports had three times the value of French exports with 21% of the global market against France's 6.8% share but things were about to get worse for Russia much much worse and from 2019 to 23 demand for Russian arms began imploding on multiple fronts China's demand for imported weapons fell by 44% which included a more than 30% drop in Russian arms exports to China Algerian arms demand also collapsed taking approximately 10% of all Russian arm sales with it while Egyptian purchases of Russian weapons fell by 33% while these were bad developments the worst for the Russian arms industry was yet to come while Russia once accounted for over 75% of Viet arms purchases it only accounted for 36% in 2019 to 23 and who has gained where Russia has lost well most of Russia's lost market share has gone to France whose sale of rafale Fighters and Scorpion submarines accounted for 33% of arms purchases nearly displacing Russia as India's number one source of weapons and things are only getting worse for Russia diplomatic Fallout from the Ukraine war and the economic effects of covid have resulted in numerous smaller Partners deserting Russia too of the 31 States buying Russian arms in 2019 only 12 made any purchases in 2023 but Russia May struggle to maintain even this demand due to shortages of Supply Serbia a virtual satellite of Russia has gone elsewhere after being scorned by War related Russian failures to deliver aircraft on time Russia is trying to turn things around though and has increased its production of many systems at rates beyond what western analysts thought was possible the Russian arms industry now employs 3.5 million Russians and accounts for 20% of all Russian manufacturing however Russian losses on the battlefield still consistently outweigh production so they're having to employ Desperate Measures to keep up since the start of the war Russia has been forced to pull moth buold systems out of storage to maintain its strength in the field it's redirected material earmarked for export to the war and it's had to Source drones and artillery ammunition from states such as Iran and North Korea whether Russia wins or loses in Ukraine it's unclear how it will maintain this arms industry with so few customers nor does it seem they can downsize it without causing an economic depression and to make things even worse for Russia this complete collapse of their arms industry has coincided with the rise of another France has always been a significant player in the global arms Market but lacked large long-term relationships just look at the M1 Abrams and leopard 2 the US and Germany have produced thousands of these tanks and numerous countries around the world operate them there are less than 900 examples of France's own third generation main battle tank the lle despite being the newest of the designs production lasted only 17 years and of the less than 900 units built 388 went to the United Arab Emirates despite exporting major arms to 69 countries between 2009 and 13 France possessed just 5% of the global market share one of the largest sources of arms Revenue at this time was simply the royalty payments France received from China which licensed the production of French helicopters at the time however a pivotal moment occurred as India placed orders for 49 Mirage 2005 combat aircraft and six scorpion submarines while also expressing interest in buying up to 126 dult rafale Omni rooll Fighters This was a hint at where the future of French arm sales lay and the beginning of an extremely fruitful relationship between 2009 and 18 France's arms industry saw a remarkable 261 increase in sales to the Middle East the highest growth rate for any state sales to the region during the period the primary reason for this rapid growth was France's emergence as the main supplier of Egyptian arms including an order of 52 raal Jets of which 24 were delivered by the end of 2018 at the same time many states were moving away from Russian Imports huge demand emerged for the French rafale and from 2019 to 23 it became one of the most in demand planes in the world in Europe Greece and Croatia each placed orders for rafales while Serbia a traditional Ally of Russia sought purchases of French aircraft to replace its Russian Jets and transport planes but while France struggled to compete with the US in the European market it found 90.9% of its sales elsewhere the bulk of France's arms exports during this time were directed towards Asia and Oceana and in the Middle East during this time France exported 94 rafales which accounted for 31% of the value of French arms exports demand shows no signs of slowing too as there are outstanding orders for almost 200 more rafales but why is the rafale so popular with customer Nations there are several reasons as a 4.5 generation fighter it balances the advantages and disadvantages of an older airframe like the F-15 and the fifth generation F35 while not a stealth aircraft in the same sense as the F35 the rafale incorporates several Design Elements aimed at reducing its radar cross-section and enhancing its survivability in contested airspace the Ukraine war has demonstrated that traditional fourth generation Fighters can struggle to survive in the face of air defenses which makes the rafale an appealing and practical upgrade however the most important factors behind choosing one plane or the other are political while the F-35 Remains the most in demand fighter in the world with more than 1,000 having been produced and total orders being close to 3,000 those who have placed orders for f35s have found themselves waiting while France has been able to expedite sales by transferring rafales directly from the French Air Force to customers additionally the US is quite protective of the plane turkey was supposed to have access to it but was removed from the program after buying Russian S400 air defense systems likewise the logistics and internal systems of the F-35 are dependent on the continuous support of the United States an export unit of the F35 costs up to $130 million and an hour of flight will cost an estimated $40,000 if a state's actions move too far away from the US their entire investment goes up in smoke while this is fine for close allies with shared Golds it's a problem for those with a desire to explore an independent foreign policy take India for example while the state leaders have increasingly Diversified away from dependence on Russia it refused to condemn the invasion of Ukraine and ignored Western sanctions to continue buying Russian oil at a steep discount this stance is common in the new arms Market France is found in the Middle East North Africa and East Asia French weapons rely almost exclusively on homegrown systems while many European weapons use American systems that would be vulnerable to sanctions with heavy wartime losses restricting Russia's ability to fill orders and the collapse of demand for Russian weapons France is uniquely positioned to absorb even more of Russia's abandoned market share so that's the current state of things but how does the future look for both the French and Russian arms Industries who will win and who will lose in the global arms Market it appears that the French arms industry is poised for continued growth boyed by several promising developments deepening ties with India and the Serbian government's insistence on buying the raal point to the appeal French weapons hold for States traditionally friendly with France while demand for the rafale remains strong in the near future there are other potential game changers in the French arms Market France is a likely partner to develop India's Future Ready combat vehicle a near future program aiming to replace India's aging t-72s and troubled aan main battle tank India's familiarity with Russia's lighter-weight autoloader based tanks and their requirement that the tank be under 60 tons would make a modernized l cler a natural fit other Western tanks like The Leopard 2 Challenger 2 and Abrams weigh 62 to 72 tons while different versions of the L clerk weigh 54 to 58 tons the Ukraine war has demonstrated that Western tanks have fantastic survivability and crew protection but has also shown that their weight can be a tactical problem in muddy terrain and underdeveloped areas on the other hand Russia has experienced High tank losses in the Ukraine war penetrating shots frequently cause a catastrophic kill blowing the turret into the air and killing the whole crew France is unique among potential Partners in that they have experienced building tanks that fit India's desired specifications and avoiding the Ukraine war has prevented any reputational damage to the tank but while the clerks have avoided the real Crucible of the Ukraine war they've seen significant service in the yemeni Civil War while the war there has produced numerous pictures of wrecked Saudi Arab Abrams Tanks emirati lerks have yet to experience a single loss realistically the lerk and a have fairly similar capabilities in protection the most likely explanation for the difference in performance is that the emiratis have used better tactics nonetheless the ler is the only major tank in the world today that still holds an unblemished record with its low weight and thriving Franco Indian Corporation it could easily form the blueprint for new development under India's Future Ready combat vehicle program the program also requires that India produce at least 50% of the components of the tank domestically the existence of an Indian French production line would cut costs increase availability and make the product of any French Indian collaboration an attractive import this is just one example of how France is not just stepping onto the world's stage as an arms manufacturer but posing a serious challenge in Russia's most important markets it's easy to think that France upset Russia as the number two arms exporter overnight or that its rise was a direct diplomatic consequence of the Ukraine war but the truth is that this did not happen overnight the process of France replacing Russia in some of its key markets India moving away from dependence on Russia and China moving towards self-sufficiency have all been at least a decade in the making and do not appear to be reversing course France's unique ability to offer a third way to customers who want Western quality without vulnerability to American Arms sanctions is a fundamental and increasingly successful challenge to at least half of the Russian arms industry's export model Russia's future as an arms producer will have to rely on the other half of their export model producing cheap weapons but even on this front Russia may find itself facing stiff competition from Franco Indian collaborations and will certainly struggle to compete with the rising Chinese arms industry ironically the past customers who kept Russia's arms industry alive after the collapse of the Soviet Union will be Russia's fiercest future competitors but what do you think of France's rise as an arms exporter what will it mean for the future of warfare let us know in the comments below and thanks for watching in February 2020 4 French president Emanuel macron issued a statement that shocked the world after a meeting in Paris of over 20 European heads of state and other Western officials macron issued a stark warning to Vladimir Putin we will do everything needed so Russia cannot win the war if that wasn't incur enough in his next breath the French leader openly discussed the possibility of deploying Western troops to fight in Ukraine there's no consensus today to send in an official endorsed manner troops on the ground but in terms of Dynamics nothing can be ruled out Putin's response was predictably Furious according to Al jazer the Russian leader had this to say on the matter the West has announced the possibility of sending Western military contingents to Ukraine the consequences for possible interventionists will be way more tragic not for the first time in the last 2 years the rest of the world has been left facing the very real possibility of a wider conflict that may have a nuclear conclusion but what led us to this critical stage if you were to take a step back and soberly assess the situation it's easy to see why Putin was so riled by macron's not so thinly veiled threats after all one of the main historical bones of contention for Moscow was NATO expansion into Central and Eastern Europe most notably the establishment of a fully operational military base on polish soil having been subjected to countless invasions and occupations throughout its colorful history from genghiskhan to Napolean bonapart Russia saw this as an act of aggression and a threat to its sovereignty to put another great military shaped fly into the ointment 20,000 troops from nine countries have recently participated in full-blown North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO exercises in Central or Eastern Europe where exactly you guessed it Northern Poland taking all of the above into account how close are we to a western troop deployment in the war in Ukraine and would that inevitably lead to a global conflict maybe even of World War II proportions that's the question that we'll attempt to answer in this video before we begin we must acknowledge that the mere presence of a relatively large number of us French and British troops in Poland could easily be interpreted as a hugely provocative act by Russia in itself granted Western leaders have attempted to put a far more benign spin on the situation terms like testing the NATO alliance's deterrence and defense capabilities have been banded around in the Press but because macron has made such pointed statements of potential intent it can easily be seen by some as adding kerosene to an already blazing fire fire but what exactly were the troops doing there well according to an in-depth report from defense news nothing more than standard military drills following deployment the participating Nations undertook many Maneuvers both on land and amphibious the likes of which are seen in any training exercises conducted by any army in any part of the world tellingly however these drills included a challenging River Crossing as part of the Polish Le Dragon 24 military exercise American British French German Spanish Turkish sloven and Lithuanian soldiers traveled across a 320 M section of the vula river they chose this time of year to host this event said Major General chisari wisuki a senior polish military official as the Waterway can be difficult to navigate in early March we wanted the most challenging conditions the water levels of the river are very high and the winds are usually strong The Crossing involved positioning floating Bridges which then had to be loaded with tanks to navigate from the opposite side of the bank and dock safely for the vehicles to disembark and continue with their military objectives furthermore a simulated crisis included the movement of many personnel and combat Vehicles across polish territory the movement of troops is a crucial part of the exercise said wuki especially in a situation like today where we have large formations of troops involved with 20,000 plus military personnel and 3,500 pieces of equipment at this point you would be forgiven for questioning the sheer numbers involved here over 20,000 troops and 3,500 pieces of military hardware more statement of of intent than a standard military drill even the least cynical amongst you must find it hard not to class such a large scale exercise as an act of intimidation to others it closely resembles a warm-up before the deployment of military personnel from NATO countries to Ukrainian territory even if they wouldn't at this stage be taking an active role in combat operations all of this was corroborated in a recent statement by the Polish Ministry of Defense while the exercises are defensive and not directed against any state they are deemed to be a demonstration of the ability to counter any aggressive policies and proactive activities of the Russian Federation another broadside in moscow's direction if ever there was one but perhaps there is a deeper underlying symbolism involved here one that goes further than the military exercises on polish soil for these drills took place only around 100 km away from Poland's border with the Russian exclave of kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea and again that is something that would be a huge cause of concern for a Moscow almost obsessively paranoid about any potential incursions into its territories now this area the salki gap or salki Corridor as it's sometimes referred to has been of great historical importance for many years moreover it acts as a choke point that could well play an incredibly vital role if Putin decides to escalate his military AIMS in Eastern and Central Europe but where exactly is the salki gap and why is it so important the salki Gap is an area around the border between Lithuania and Poland that's sparsely populated to say the least it represents the shortest path between bellarus and the aforementioned Russian exclave of kaliningrad O blast on the Polish side of the Border named after the Polish town of salki this choke point has been of great strategic and Military significance ever since Poland and the Baltic states joined NATO the border between Poland and Lithuania was formed after the salki agreement of 1920 but it was of little importance in the interwar period 1918 to39 at the time the Polish lands stretched farther Northeast during the Cold War however Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union and communist Poland was a member of the Soviet Le warsa pact Alliance the eventual dissolution of the Soviet Union and The warsa Pact hardened borders that cut through the shortest land route between kaliningrad Russian territory isolated from the mainland and bellarus Russia's Ally from that geographical information alone it's clear to see why the salki Gap is seen as such a key location should the war take an unexpected turn in fact an article from Politico shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine went a step further claiming that the area is the most dangerous place on Earth why well Western military planners warned that the salki Gap would likely be one of the Russian President's first targets were he ever to choose to ramp up the war in Ukraine into a confrontation to end all confrontations with NATO at present all is quiet in the area but for how long though raminus seus commander of a local company of lithuania's riflemen's Union a voluntary militia with roots stretching back more than a century is monitoring the situation in the Border region with growing unease and concern for many the salki Gap is lithuania's Achilles heel some think there's no point in attacking us but it must be noted that this is a direct route to kaliningrad he said if they're able to overcome Ukraine it's possible that the next blow would fall here and there in lies the rub and perhaps a little more light on macron's statements as well as just Why Us French and British troops might just be ready to enter the fry in Ukraine in February Russia scored one of if not the biggest victories of the increasingly attritional conflict so far the taking of the hugely important strategic dbass city of adiva the fact that fighting whether intermittent or heavy has been raging since 2014 only underscores the significance of the win for Moscow even more worryingly Ukrainian troops are running out of everything from effective radar equipment and military hardware to basic ammunition on the ground but a restock of supplies is slow incoming across the board in an interview with CBS and published by the hill in March 2024 the baged Ukraine President Vladimir zalinski made the following statement we don't have rounds artillery rounds we don't know what will be tomorrow that's why we have to prepare since the beginning of the conflict Ukraine has received unprecedented levels of military aid according to the Council on Foreign Relations from February 2024 the us alone has pledged over $75 billion so far naturally at the start of the conflict the political Goodwill was there for all to see citizens in Western nations in particular were appalled at Putin's Act of aggression and fully back their government's actions now over 2 years down the line people have become increasingly War weary especially now they are being bombarded with images of Israel's brutal war with Hamas and this has had an inevitable knock on effect back in December 23 US President Joe Biden encountered incredible difficulties in getting approval for a new military aid package for Ukraine passed through Congress in a report from the BBC there was huge resistance from Senate Republicans to the new $61 billion package despite an unnamed Ukrainian official stating that failure to secure more us Aid would mean a very high possibility that the war would be lost to Russia of course this is the outcome no one in the west wants to see evidenced by macron's comments quoted at the top of the video but the plain facts of the conflict cannot be disputed Ukraine has received huge military backing from the west but it now looks as if the country is slowly but surely losing the war so is the solution yet more funding the transport of more military hardware bigger and better rockets and guns more support on the ground and more economic sanctions against Russia in an Ideal World perhaps that would be the easiest solution all of the above but no war can go on in perpetuity just as no government no matter how well-meaning or righteous the cause they Champion has unlimited coffers hence Ukraine's main allies find themselves in an invidious position where direct action might be the only way to proceed a point emphasized by Philips O'Brien professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews in Scotland the issue of sending European forces to help Ukraine was never one to be dismissed he said Europe is now faced with a terrible dilemma watching Ukraine potentially run out of ammunition or stepping in and helping Ukraine more directly zalinsky has hinted as much himself warning that the war could escalate to Europe the US is helping Ukraine and we are grateful for their support but the United States don't have the war going on but it can come to Europe and to the United States of America it can come very quickly to Europe but are the leaders of countries like the US France and Britain really ready to act do they genuinely fear that a Russian Victory in Ukraine may be only the start of a wider conflict in Europe and Beyond and were the drills that took place in Poland back in March actually preparations for a special military operation of their own if so it brings us all the way back to the salki Gap as stated it's the only way to get by Road or rail from Poland and Central Europe to the Baltic states which are arguably NATO's most exposed members a Russian move to seize control of the corridor may seem beyond the realm of possib ility at the present time as it would explicitly involve an attack on NATO territory automatically triggering a US military response why Article 5 of the NATO Charter the parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all but will Putin be cowered by Article 5 in the way much of the world assumes will it continue to act as a deterrent when the stakes are so much higher now that's a question that can't be answered at this stage but considering the Russian Leader's complete disregard for international law it would pay for the West to prepare now for the worst case scenarios however the sticking point seems to be the very real concerns that increased military assistance to Ukraine meaning direct troop deployment of the kind macron threatened in Paris back in February might paint the West as co-c combatants in the eyes of the international law Putin himself is so happy to flout and there's no way that any Western Government be it Biden macron or UK prime minister Rishi sunak could risk being cast as the aggressors history would never forgive them if they did proceed regardless it might give Putin the excuse he needs and probably wants for lashing out and launching new military offensives of his own namely the Kremlin may see an increased threat to kaliningrad and seize the salki corridor to create a land bridge to the exclave moreover kaliningrad is now home to substantial Russian combat forces including the Russian Baltic Fleet Advanced Air defenses and mobile nuclear capable escande M missiles for that reason Russia is hugely sensitive to any threats real or imagined or invented to its control of the non-contiguous territory and might risk escalation if it misinterpreted NATO's actions near kaliningrad naturally any attempt by Putin to seize the corridor would mean an attack on Lithuania or Poland or both and a direct war between NATO and Russia and like we said this would at best be strategically unwise and at worse a precursor to World War I but time and time again Putin has kept the West second guessing there's nothing to suggest that a potential conflict over the salki Gap would be any different for now the world can only look on with baited breath make no mistake though the clock is ticking and perhaps the country looking most concernedly at the hands traversing that metaphorical clock face is of course Poland in the 20th century the Polish people suffered terribly at the hands of two of history's most brutal dictators in One Direction they had Hitler's all conquering vermar in the other Stalin's vengeful Red Army one intent on invading and seizing power the other to rape pillage and forcibly indoctrinate the populace with their communist ideology but quite simply the country became one big Battlefield with its major towns and cities being reduced to nothing more than Rubble in the process understandably Warsaw never wanted to be in that position again to protect itself going into the 21st century and beyond Poland has built one of the most modern and best equipped armies not just in Europe but the whole world indeed the defense minister Marius blashack claimed that his country would soon have the most powerful land Force in Europe many would argue that the country already has at the time of the making of this video Poland has more tanks and howitzers than Germany and is on course to have a much larger army with a target of 300,000 troops by 2035 compared with Germany's current 170,000 in terms of troop numbers the military is about 150,000 strong with 30,000 belonging to a new territorial Defense Force set up in 2017 these consist of weekend soldiers who undergo 16 days of training followed up by refresher courses initially sneered at Ukraine's success in using mobile militia equipped with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles now makes the idea seem much more sensible the list could go on and it's made Poland a powerful force to be reckoned with on the global stage to the extent that a senior US Army official sees the country playing a crucial role in supporting Ukraine and in Shoring up NATO defenses in the baltics Poland has become our most important partner in Continental Europe so would Putin be willing to open up another military front and launch an allout attack on a country with such fearsome military resources at its disposal and such powerful allies the ramifications have already been set out in this video if the ultimate answer is none the clearer to come full circle macron's threats of Western troop deployment were roundly criticized by the rest of the world for some they were unnecessarily aggressive for others Reckless and Ill advised already the situation in Ukraine is on a knife edge and tight RPP combined with Putin seemingly happy to play the long game now what will ultimately happen in the short to medium term is difficult to predict in recent interviews zilinsky has said that he fully expects the Russians to launch another full-blown offensive in the spring with May being the most likely date meanwhile predictions coming out of Moscow both from those opposed and those firmly behind Putin's leadership suggest that the war could drag on for another 5 to 7 years but maybe the key factor in both the short and longer term will be the outcome of the US presidential election in November 2024 if Donald Trump Trump were to be reelected it could have disastrous ramifications for keev whether that would mean a significant reduction in military aid or the end of all financial and Military Support altogether is yet to be seen back in 2023 when asked about the Ukraine conflict Trump was in a conciliatory mood I know zalinski very well and I know Putin very well I would tell zalinski no more you've got to make a deal I would tell Putin if you don't make a deal we're going to give him zinski a lot since then the former president's tone has changed worrying in a CNN report from March 24 Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban is quoted as saying in an interview with M1 broadcast he Trump has a very clear Vision he says the following first he will not give a single penny for the Russia Ukrainian War that's why the war will end because it's obvious that Ukraine cannot stand on its own two feet if that transpires then the whole nature of the war will of course be turned on its head so perhaps the biggest question facing the likes of the US France and Britain is just when exactly the time for procrastinating is over to their credit the governments of each of those countries took decisive action from the outset they pledged huge amounts of money to bolster the Ukrainian war effort and implemented some of the harshest economic sanctions against Russia ever seen but still it hasn't been enough not by a long shot in addition to the significant military breakthroughs referenced earlier in the video Putin has also managed to absorb the economic blows associated with the sanctions by exporting huge amounts of gas and oil to Asia most notably to China and India if at a drastic reduced price in addition military expansion in the prized Arctic region has carved a lucrative new trade route that could prove decisive in years to come economically Russia looks more than capable of funding the war for as long as necessary in fact some business experts are of the opinion that the Russian economy is so Reliant upon the war now that Moscow simply can't afford to pull out of Ukraine for the foreseeable future perhaps even more worryingly are rumors that Russia has been holding back some of its more advanced modern military capabilities in a report from ERS from February of this year Putin claimed that 95% of Russia's strategic nuclear forces had been modernized and that the Air Force has just taken delivery of four new supersonic nuclear capable bombers if that's true it only adds to zelinsky's wo and puts even more pressure on his allies with a significant number of us French and British troops assembling close to the theater of war and Moscow looking to make another decisive move on the geopolitical chess board the future couldn't be more uncertain whether an increasingly unlikely dipl atic solution can be found or whether a change in the white house will force every nation's hand is yet to be seen But if macron's words are anything to go by Western troops could well be mobilized and ready to enter Ukraine sooner than anybody could ever have imagined or feared now we're coming to the end of the video it's time to ask you what you think about the potential Western troop deployment in Ukraine was February's statement of intent no more than an empty threat from macron to see exactly how Putin would react or do you think the conflict now in its third calendar year has reached a stage where Western intervention is all but inevitable after all the military aid packages from NATO countries in particular are unsustainable in the long term and with Putin's recent Landslide reelection and some Russian political experts predicting a much longer War than anticipated the time for the West to act May well be upon us if not Russian aggression could see the country take decisive steps into Central and maybe even Western Europe let us know what you think in the comments below and thank you for watching the video now go and check out why Poland would destroy Russia in a war or click this other video instead change is coming to the European military landscape and not in the way you might expect for years the same countries have stood at top the index for Europe's strongest military Powers with eight military satellites in orbit 13 Naval frigs eight submarines and 850 aircraft Italy consistantly ranks high on the list France is no walkover either with 300 nuclear weapons in its Arsenal and an aircraft carrier three Hello Carriers and 10 military bases from which it can project one of the world's best counterterrorism strike forces into the corners of the globe there is reason to believe France will remain one of the preeminent European powers for years to come then there's the UK consistently viewed as one of the world's strongest military Powers not just in Europe it possesses 25 overseas military bases two aircraft carriers 10 excellent nuclear submarines and 663 three aircraft even if its reserves of Tanks of which it only has 227 and artillery 215 remain comparatively low in a few years these rankings might be all about to change Finland and Sweden NATO's newest members look poised to play a central role in European deterrence measures against Putin's Russia and are preparing accordingly the countries along NATO's Eastern European flank from the baltics down to the Black Sea have long maintained respectable rapid response forces as part of a robust Collective military presence Poland too is committed to flexing its own military muscle for several years now it's been steadily replacing its Soviet stockpile with modern Western Weapons Systems and Munitions in a bid to become Europe's strongest land Army by 20126 it has an ongoing deal to acquire almost 500 High Mars long-range missile systems has been steadily integrating the latest us M1 a21 SE version 3 Abrams Tanks Apache helicopters and F 35s it's also branched out importing the latest in South Korean armor and artillery whose Global reputation is growing and then there's Germany yes the European country which for decades now has routinely Fallen well short of its defense goals now seems eager to jump to the top of Europe's military spending leaderboards it may seem like a shock but last year German politicians finally read the room and realized that with one of the world's largest gdps it was high time to pull its weight in NATO and re ramp its Armed Forces indeed the war in Ukraine seems like it has cast everything into the proper perspective today Germany is not only gearing up to overhaul its Armed Forces it wants to do so by becoming the world's third largest military spender I'm sure none of you had that on your bingo card a year or two ago it's been some time since German leaders expressed this desire naturally it's worth following up to see how bad things had actually gotten in the German Armed Forces how the military overhaul is currently going and whether Germany will be able to keep on track to achieve its lofty military goals in the near and long-term future prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine it was fair to say that the reputation of what on paper should undeniably be one of Europe's most feared militaries was poor to put it mildly at the tail end of the 2010s reports began to emerge documenting the unexpected Devolution of one of the fiercest and most brutal fighting forces on earth into what one Observer likened to a glorified volunteer fire department one whose venerated Mountain troops were routinely deployed to shovel snow from roofs in Bavaria rather than conduct cuttingedge military exercises what went wrong for the once vaunted bundes well a lot actually so much that it's sort of hard to know where to begin like most things Germany's current situation didn't unfold in a vacuum the problems traced back to the end of the Cold War a period of renewed hope and opportunity for the German people the fall of the Berlin Wall the reintegration of East and West Germany and the collapse of the USS r as a regional military rival changed Germany's security Outlook virtually overnight suddenly money the German Parliament had funneled into military expenditures had better use revamping the country's economic political and social institutions there was simply no proximate military threat worthy enough to Merit continued military spending at Cold War levels knowing that NATO and more importantly the United States could collectively guarantee Europe's long-term security the country and its people still struggling through the memories of two world Wars felt like it could afford to draw down its military capabilities without imperiling its overall safety this process started in the early 1990s few realized at the time that it would continue practically unabated until 2022 this then is the root of Germany's modern military weakness Germany's decision to focus inward propelled it to incredibly prosperous economic Heights yet this Choice came at the expense of a significant chunk of its military funding the result has been endemic shortages of Manpower and material by late 2018 Germany could boast 68 tiger attack helicopters yet just 20% of them could fly it had plenty of Euro Fighters 136 in all but only 30% of those were airworthy the state of the German air force got so bad that its Pilots started to quit in droves on top of that Germany's aging tornado Fighters the country's only aerial platform that can carry its nuclear warheads were scheduled to be decommissioned the state of military disrepair extended sended to the Infantry who according to reports has suffered from shortages of everything from ammunition to underwear of late as of 2019 the main battle rifle of the German armed forces the Heckler and Co G36 was in the process of being scrapped after studies revealed serious defects in its accuracy in other words that the gun misses its Target if it's too hot in a visit to a Lithuanian Outpost where 450 German soldiers were stationed as part of a NATO mission to protect Europe's Eastern flank American officials were dismayed to other bundes Personnel communicating on unsecure mobile phones due to a shortage of secure radio equipment equipment deficiencies and shortages were paralleled by increased recruiting difficulties Germany's recent goal to raise its recruitment thresholds by 20,000 troops founded as many of its potential nsds discovered the pitiful living conditions at its military Barracks as a result Germany has been forced to contemplate a seemingly unimaginable alternative filling empty recruitment pools with foreign Nationals the problem it now faces is a legal one since German law only allows those with citizenship to serve in its military at a certain point Germany's military shortcomings became so apparent it led high-ranking bundes officials to declare no matter where you look there's dysfunction meanwhile Germany's allies were likely wondering in private why are the Germans only terrible at War when they're on our side the most vifer of Germany's critics was the leader of the Ally it could ill afford to antagonize the United States at the tail end of Donald Trump's 4-year term as president the Mercurial American began pressuring Germany to up its defense spending and meet the suggested NATO obligation 2% of GDP the problem was that even if Angela Merkel the German Chancellor at the time and leader of the center-right block of politicians most critics placed blame for decades of diminutive military spending decided to try to affect some sort of change it was simply impossible to overhaul the bundes overnight this is because power stems from many overlapping variables like industrial capacity financial and organizational strength research and development and political and social support this is a battle on multiple fronts German defense minister elila fondan said as she tried to fend off Trump's criticism in 2019 I also wish things would move more quickly but 25 years of shrinkage and cuts can't be reversed in just a few years that was the goal to which Germany set itself at the dawn of the 2020s to reverse 25 years of shrinkage and cuts and so Germany did probably the most German thing it could it decided to spend hundreds of millions of Euros on outside Consultants to try to clean up the Army's mess when their findings and recommendations were clearly failing to correct course the German Parliament took matters into their own hands forming a special investigative committee to look into irregularities in procurement and accusations that the Consultants were given sweetheart deals and too much influence hundreds of millions of Euros didn't even put a dent in the GDP of arguably the world's most heavily industrialized country yet it did reveal perpetual mismanagement and an overall lack of strategic thinking on the best way to modernize the nation's military forces everything takes too long and costs too much money remarked Hans Peter Bartles who between 2015 and 20 served as parliamentary commissioner for the Armed Forces it's as if time and money were endless resources and in the end no one takes responsibility which begs The Perennial question why why given Germany's geopolitical standing and its awareness that Russia and China posed a far greater Threat by the early 2020s than they did a decade earlier did it continue to sit on its hands more German media bandwidth was focused outward on Trump's threats of withdrawing from NATO than inward on its own military potential Germany had an intractable problem it was at once relling on the United States 33,000 Soldier presence and its robust nuclear umbrella for its own defense yet extremely critical of anyone who called its NATO commitment into question it had an intense public disdain for armed engagement logically rooted in its recent past yet had formed strong economic technological and energy interdependencies with its ideological Rivals the German populace had by all measures being lulled into a false sense of security everything changed on February 24th 2022 Putin's invasion of Ukraine pulled the carpet from under the German political establishment concurrent with Putin's military buildup Chancellor Olaf Schultz announced to the world's surprise that Germany would up its 1.46% defense spending and fulfill its 2% of GDP goal for for the first time since 1990 3 days after Putin greenlit the first largescale ground war in Europe since World War II Schulz went even further than before characterizing the moment of the bundestag rostrom as a change of era making a commitment to reversing its decades old minimalist defense policies in lie of the type of sweeping overhaul befitting Germany's economic stature the announcement was met with Fanfare in Parliament the chancellor set aside a veritable War chest to achieve this goal a $100 billion special fund authorized to modernize its military forces the decision was met with a 75% approval rating there have been several encouraging developments since Schultz's proclamations Germany has been one of Europe's most generous suppliers of military aid to Ukraine since the start of the conflict doing out serious arms packages from its Federal armed forces that include infantry fighting Vehicles leopard main battle tanks though they certainly dragged their feet there for months longer than they should have M resistant armored vehicles Iris te air defense systems Howers Munitions drones and smaller items like helmets mobile antennas night vision goggles and Logistics Vehicles the process of donating old equipment has incentivized German politicians and arms industry leaders to fill the vacuum yet old patterns are starting to emerge after two decades of neglect critics are now repeating an old complaint that Berlin still lacks an overall strategy for its defense industry spending 100 billion e will not guarantee military might while many hope that Germany would use the money to reinvest in its own defense industry something the United States has been doing since the start of the conflict in Ukraine Berlin has come under Fire for also investing in US defense companies in July 2023 a leading tank gearbox manufacturer claimed that nearly half of the 00 billion special fund had gone to American defense companies Germany does not have a strategic compass for the defense industry claimed suzan vand chief executive of rank group this is something the French are handling much better essentially vegan believe the special fund should be used for more than plugging short-term gaps in the German military's inventories but also to help develop Technologies of the future this makes a lot of sense but a year after Schultz promised to use his special fund little seems to have changed over the past 12 months a flurry of reports have continued to shed light on German military unpreparedness strangled by bureaucracy one headline reads Germany's army is so underere equipped that it used broomsticks instead of machine guns read another in febru 2023 a prominent foreign policy spokesman for the Christian Democratic Union told a German news outlet that the military had lost a year and is beer than it was at the start of 2022 sure the German defense Ministry had placed several new orders for F-35 fighter jets heavy transport helicopters and a new program designed to digitize the Apparently obsolescent digital Communications and networking capabilities of the bundes interest rates on the loan Parliament took out for the 100 billion Euro special fund Rose from 8 billion to 13 billion leaving only 87 billion to spend to say nothing of inflation and value added taxes which look set to strike another 15 billion EUR or so from The Ledger books the longer you have this money sitting around somewhere the longer factors like inflation and interest payments have to eat away at this pile one Economist stated recently however German defense minister Boris Pistorius has been arguing that the 100 billion Euro special fund is far from enough to meet the bunders v's eye-opening needs s while he has modestly asked for budgetary increases in the Realms of tens of billions of Euros likely to escape severe political and public pressure others have estimated that to make Germany the backbone of Europe's defense it needs to do much more in February 2024 Pistorius argued that overturning two decades of minimal military expenditures may require Germany to surpass its 2% Target which it met for the first time this year the development of our industry all has to fit together he recently told the German Parliament we might read 3% maybe even 3.5% it depends what's happening in the world Germany is at a serious inflection point in 2021 the country spent 52.8 billion EUR on defense seventh in the global rankings certainly ahead of France but still behind Russia and the UK as a percentage of its GDP among the 20 largest global economies it came in Far lower just 15th as Germany hits its renewed spending targets it looks set to catapult itself higher into the rankings spending in annual ual amount of 76.1 billion EUR would put it ahead of Russia India and the UK it would lead the EU by some distance though it would still pale in comparison to the US and China more importantly increased military spending will finally enable Germany to back its rhetorical and economic leadership of the European Community with cold hard Steel in the past Germany's allies and adversaries alike were slow to take it seriously in matters of defense today this looks set to change Germany has expressed its desire to build a modernized high-tech powerful military the f-35s represent a step in the right direction as do the future combat air systems it's developing jointly with France its attempts to modernize its naval fleet and its attention on changes in drone Warfare but if it wants to become a true military superpower Germany must continue to spend wisely for the foreseeable future it must give equal weight to the tail end of the spear Logistics intelligence cyber warfare training and experience as it gives the tip high-tech weapons vehicles and equipment as mentioned before Germany is still getting the basics wrong to be able to secure itself not to mention its European and Regional allies and partners it must address what it's neglected for years it needs to get its existing helicopters aircrafts and tanks operational it needs to get the 50% of military hardware found to be dysfunctional back into working condition and it must find the funding and the social support to raise public respect for the German Armed Forces so it can overcome its chronic Personnel shortages and material deficiencies a job in the military does not have the Kudos in Germany that it does elsewhere owing to the country's wartime past historious recently claimed this would have to change and would require by most accounts a unique cultural change that amounted to more than business as usual but with more money Germany has a clear opportunity to prove its naysayers Wrong by wholeheartedly picking up the battern of European security it's a moment of severe uncertainty for Europe a time when the West could truly benefit from Germany's steadfast commitment to building a credible military with true deterrent potential today American support for Ukraine is more uncertain than ever there's a very real chance that depending on the way the American presidential election pans out in 2024 European figureheads like Germany and France will have to put their money where their mouth is if the invasion of Ukraine reinforced the gravity of the threat at their doorsteps dwindling American political and material support may leave them with no choice but to shoulder an increased burden of defense spending damp its armor production and help Ukraine in areas where it's falling short the Estonian defense Ministry recently estimated that Western countries would need to invest just 0.25% of their GDP in military assistance to Ukraine in order to enable the country to continue defending itself in 2024 and prepare a new counter offensive in 2025 Europe must show that it's committed to its own defense and Germany as the richest European power has to stand at the front of the line to succeed it has had to overcome its bureaucrat atically encumbered procurement system one that an expert described as suffering from a perfectionism in its regulations that often means the troops don't actually get what they need this manifests itself in German tank Crews not receiving standardized radio equipment as their NATO allies Germany's various political coalitions at loggerheads over the degree of urgency to approach military modernization and more Germany can be pleased that by and large its pamp for perfectionism in the field of procurement has been ironed out the arms industry has been working hard hard to increase capacity namely in the creation of a new rhin metal Munitions Factory that can churn out 200,000 artillery shells a year yet this may still fall short of Ideal Germany is set Upon A generational task not only to restructure but in a first step to Simply fill the gaps in the German Armed Forces Germany's actions in the defense sphere since Russia's invasion in light of its own past have been nothing short of revolutionary the question is will Schulz and Germany's coalition government be able to establish a viable modernization strategy that can guide its military agenda for decades to come or if this process will bend and wither according to the changing political winds what do you think let us know in the comments now go check out how Poland is becoming Europe's next military superpower or click this other video instead ever thought Italy was just about art history and delicious food think again the nation's stepping up its military game and it's got quite the shopping list from planning to acquire more drones to Dreaming of a new Fleet of tanks and advanced F-35 fighter jets Italy's on a mission to revamp its Armed Forces but why this sudden shift and what could it mean for Italy's role on the global stage and its ability to handle high-intensity conflicts buckle up as we dive into Italy's silent military buildup the tech they're eyeing and how they plan to shake off Decades of being under the NATO radar join us as our military experts dive into the tale of Underdog ambition high-tech aspiration and a strategic makeover that could change the game like most countries in Western Europe Italy has long been behind the NATO Benchmark of 2% of GDP spent on defense the last time it spent that much was in the 1980s when the Soviet and Warsaw Pact still acutely threatened Europe between 1991 and 2022 Italy usually spent around 1.5% of GDP on its military the trend lowered in the mid-20s even after Russia demonstrated its initial aggression against Ukraine in 2015 Italy spent a record low of 1.2% on defense after the fullscale invasion Rome announced its intention to change course and spend 2% on defense but that this would be delayed until 2028 when Georgia Maloney became prime minister in September 2022 she vowed to continue the buildup and be less quiet about it as previous governments had done in order to avoid criticism from the Catholic Church 6 months later Malone's government revealed some of the items on the Italian military's shopping list as well as some of its vulnerabilities one glaring weakness is a lack of drones in March 2023 the leader of the Italian Navy Amaral enrio credendino told the legislature that his Force lacked drones and needed to rely on their American Allies to provide them upon request he also criticized the shortage of personnel saying that there were not enough Sailors to guarantee one full crew for any of Italy's FR frigs in contrast the French navy had two rotating Crews for each of its friends General luchano port Solano Italy's National Armament director said that the country lacked tanks too concerned with the Aging 1990s vintage C1 arietti tanks in the fleet he suggested a dire need for 250 new tanks 125 of which might be upgraded aretes this would leave a gap of 125 despite the low spending and dire warnings from its commanders the Italian military is still more capable than many people would expect Italy's military is currently ranked 10th in the global Firepower index ahead of France it has an active duty force of 165,000 with 289,000 total Personnel 18,500 reserves and 105,000 paramilitary troops out of a total population of 61 million Italy has an available Manpower of 27.4 million 22.2 million of these people are considered fit for service and about 549,000 reach military age annually the GFI says that Italy has 200 tanks with 15 50 of them being fit for combat other sources are much Grimmer with suggestions that only 50 of Italy's tanks are fit to fight meanwhile Italy has about 61,800 other vehicles with about 46,4 ready in terms of artillery Italy has 64 self-propelled units 108 toad units and 21 mlrs units 48 81 and 16 are considered ready respectively in terms of Naval power the Italian Navy has 54 holes in its Fleet two of these are aircraft carriers which are the 16-year-old cavor and the 39-year-old JPI garabaldi respectively it has eight submarines four destroyers 11 frigs 10 Mine Warfare ships and 16 offshore Patrol vessels in the skies it has 800 total assets with 600 being ready 90 of these are Fighters 67 are attack types 29 transports 163 trainers 28 are special Mission aircraft eight are tankers 402 are helicopters and 57 of these are of the attack variety still Italy sees an urgent need to increase the Firepower of its armed forces and the number of assets it has to call upon the war in Ukraine revealed just how rapidly these stockpiles can be depleted in a high-intensity state-based conflict for example Russia recently lost 11 fighter jets in 11 days and even at the height of the success of its operations in the summer and fall of 2022 Ukraine was losing two tanks per day that would give Italy's tank Fleet only 100 days before being completely depleted and there is reason to suspect that a greater industrial conflict would have a much higher attrition rate the F-35 lightning 2 was one of the weapons the Italian brass specifically requested in March 2023 Italy already ordered a force of 60 f-35a and 15 f35b Fighters for its Air Force in 2020 the Italian Navy ordered an additional 15 f35b aircraft for a total of 90 by April 2023 23 had been delivered but the previous month Italy's Air Force Commander General Luca GTI said he wanted 41 more taking the total from 90 to 131 this was in fact the original order dating from 2012 however this was also the time near the lows of Italy's defense spending and in such a Time 131 aircraft seemed unnecessary so the order was cut to 90 the times have clearly changed this will be a formidable addition to the roughly 100 capable Euro Fighter typhoons already in the Italian air fleet on land Italy wants to order High Mar systems to augment its rocket artillery Force which is in need of more units Italy has also expressed interest in the Next Generation tank that France and Germany have collaborated on since 2012 the European main ground combat system mgcs as part of this effort the Italian defense contractor Leonardo has agreed to cooperate with Germany's Rin metal and France's nexter to build the European tank of the future this tank will be set to replace the arietti the French L Clerk and the German Leopard 2 the mgcs is designers has also intend for it to replace at least some of the Infantry fighting vehicles in The Fleets of European countries this is because they want it to be a modular vehicle capable of providing several different functions there is danger in this the Quest for modularity was one of the reasons why the F-35 program suffered so many years of delays and cost overruns the United States's literal combat ship program which also sought modularity has proven to be a disaster of Epic Proportions still the Europeans seem convinced that they can make it work more immediately Italy is also looking to butress its tank forces with the latest version of the German Leopard 2 tank the 2a8 in July 20123 Rome announced that it would buy 133 of these from Berlin filling the Gap mentioned in March and then some Italy will modify these to further suit its needs at the same time Italy said it would continue upgrading the 125 domestic arietti tanks as announced in March these 125 C1 aretes will be modernized to the latest version the C3 which would give the tank better armor Fire Control Systems and engines the new Fire Control System will come with a modern ballistic computer and new digital sites with thermal cameras for the commander and Gunner manufactured by Leonardo the C3 version of the arietti will also boast a new turret which will be a top to- bottom redesign of the current one electronic actuators will replace the current Hydraulics which will make it safer to operate a laser warning system is also part of the arietti modernization plan the upgrades to these arietti tanks will extend their service life to 20 34 by which time the mcgs is expected to enter service Italy is also upgrading its B1 centuro tank destroyer an armed vehicle with a specific anti-tank purpose this upgrade is called the B2 the centuro was designed for the specific purpose of destroying Soviet and Warsaw packed tanks a purpose which has seen renewed consideration in the wake of the war in Ukraine the B2 weighs slightly more than its predecessor and comes with improved Fire Control Systems for the commander and Gunner including infrared cameras the consp targets up to 10 km away in all weather conditions and at night it's connected to a digital Network that can share its data with other vehicles and command centers the main Armament a 120 mm Cannon gives it Firepower equal to that of most of the world's existing main battle tanks the B2 further stabilizes this weapon along three axes which means that the Gunner will have improved accuracy even when the vehicle is moving over rough terrain though not a tank the centuro has enough armor to Shield its crew well against most threats it can withstand hits from 30 mm rounds at the front 25 mm rounds on the sides and 12.7 mm rounds in the back the vehicle's v-shaped Hull design also protects its operators from mines and improvised explosive devices the turret can carry additional composite armor plates which will add weight to the vehicle but increase its protection enough to withstand hits from 40 mm armor piercing discarding sabot rounds inside there are plates lined with Kevlar which further protect the crew from explosive fragments coming from shells that man managed to pierce the outer armor Italian Engineers are looking to further increase the curro's protection with active systems seen on main battle tanks and to the possibility of outfitting it with explosive reactive armor to add even more defenses along with this Armament and armor comes high speed the B2 has a top speed of 110 kmph making it significantly faster than main battle tanks the curro's design is flexible enough to accommodate significant modifications it can be deployed as a self-propelled artillery unit the 155 mm centuro porcupine that can fire up to 8 rounds per minute against targets 60 km away the centuro can also be modified into an anti-air system the Draco in this configuration it carries a 76 mm Naval gun redesigned to fit the vehicle chassis a coaxial 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm machine gun can serve as a secondary weapon the Draco can hit targets between 6 and 8 km in the sky the war in Ukraine has shown the renewed importance of these old old style flat Cannon systems as using expensive surfac to- a missiles to shoot down cheap kamakazi drones is not an economically sustainable method of Waging War the Draco therefore served as an ideal counter to loitering Munitions like the Iranian shad and Russian lanet Italy's participation in the mgcs is also part of why it started a program to replace its dardo infantry Fighting Vehicle this vehicle entered service in 1998 and though this makes it a newer platform than many of its peers such as the American Bradley the Italians see the need for something even newer the Italians plan to buy over 1,000 of whatever new vehicle is selected to replace the d three vehicles are in contention the first is the kf41 lynx the second is the boxer and the third is the cv90 the lynx was revealed by its designer Germany's rhin Metal Company in the mid-2010s and has already entered service with the Hungarian Army the lynx comes with a crew of three operators and can carry eight soldiers its range is 500 km and has a top speed of 70 kmph its Armament comes in the form of a 35 mm gun a 7.62 mm machine gun and optional anti-tank guided missiles aside from its base armor the links can be equipped with a hard kill protection system that improves its defenses against antimaterial weapons it's smart too and automatically launches smoke grenades when it detects that a laser is pointing at it reducing its vulnerability and the chance of being hit by anti-tank missiles with laser guidance it even has a shooter locating system that detects the direction of incoming enemy fire the boxer is a vehicle co-developed by Germany and the Netherlands the British were originally involved but withdrew in 2003 it entered service in 2009 has a crew of three operators and can carry eight troops defense is the boxer's strongest suit and experts regard it as one of the world's most protective armored personnel carriers it's made of modular armor mixed with Ceramics and it's shaped to guard against anti-tank mines in particular its manufacturers claim that the front can withstand hits from 30 mm cannons while the side armor is durable against fire from 12.7 mm antimaterial rounds armored slabs which have taken damage can be replaced in the field the boxer is also designed to have a low radar signature while highly armored the boxer is lacking in offensive potential compared to the links its main Armament is a 40 mm grenade launcher in the German version while the Dutch version comes only with a 12.7 MM machine gun the Italians have indicated they would be interested in a tracked version of the boxer perhaps most importantly the vle is composed of variant of Parts which are commercially available this would ensure a steady supply in the event of a wider conflict as lost vehicles and parts would be more easily replaceable France's project scorpion is creating vehicles with similar commercially available parts for this reason finally there's the cv90 a vehicle of Swedish manufacturer it also comes with an operating crew of three and can carry up to eight Soldiers the cv90 first came into service in 1993 its latest variant the armadillo is also a highly protective APC with all round protection against 25mm armor piercing shells it's also designed to withstand blasts from mines and IEDs its manufacturer the British firm BAE Systems claims it can take hits from mines with explosive weight over 10 kg and is ideal for urban Warfare settings the cv90 has a remote controlled weapon that can be armed with a 40 mm automatic grenade launcher a 12.7 MM machine gun a 7.62 mm machine gun or a 35 mm Cannon currently the lynx is considered the leader in the race for a d replacement in the Italian military meanwhile Italy is planning to do much more than acquire more f-35s for its Air Force the Italians are looking to introduce a new attack helicopter to provide close air support for its troops and vehicles on the ground one supposedly even better than the American Apache this is the Augusta a249 Phoenix it was first revealed in 2017 and had its Maiden flight in August 2022 it's designed to afford better protection than it predecessor the Augusta aw129 which entered service in 1990 and which Italy wants to retire either next year or in 2026 the Phoenix will be armed with a 20mm rotary Cannon and have six stations that can host air-to-air missiles air to ground missiles unguided Rockets or additional fuel tanks the Phoenix will have a maximum takeoff weight of 8 tons there's also a Polish variant in the works as part of that country's own significant military buildup the Italian brass expects that the Phoenix will have a service life of 30 years Italy is also a participant in an effort to develop a sixth generation jet fighter in partnership with the United Kingdom and Japan this is the global combat air program gcap the ejection seats were successfully tested in 2023 collaborative development on the aircraft will begin in 2025 with the first demonstration aircraft expected by 2027 and entry into service by 2035 in addition to supporting existing weapons like the Beyond visual range meteor air-to-air missile the product of the gcap called The Tempest will feature open architecture to support future systems the plane will be equipped with laser weapons likely for both offensive and defensive purposes in a move that might make sci-fi fans nervous The Tempest will supposedly feature mindreading AI technology the AI can step in and assist the human pilot when under extreme stress over time this AI will even build a unique biometric and psychometric profiles on each Tempest pilot although the Tempest will primarily act as a Mann fighter it can be operated as a drone and will feature drone wingmen under the command of the mother plane The Tempest will be made of composite materials that feature aditives designed to help the plane operate at higher temperatures the war in Ukraine has revealed that aircraft attrition will be high in a peer or near peer conflict this is why the gcap is incorporating digital engineering technology and other processes designed to reduce the time frame needed to manufacture the aircraft this should also make it more replaceable in an attritional scenario Italy's main contribution to to The Tempest program will be through Leonardo the company will Design the Fighter's avionics and electronic systems Leonardo in turn will be assisted by fellow Italian company Electronica which supplies electronic equipment to the Italian military Leonardo's tasks should include designing an ideal cockpit system customizable by the pilot one which feeds data into the headsup displays of the helmet these helmets will supposedly be able to project augmented and even virtual reality imagery and will have a virtual assist to help sift through the data the the company is also working on the tempest's communication systems and sensors called the integrated sensing and non-kinetic effects is sanki is sanki will be composed of a sensor Network comprising the tempest's entire airframe this will enhance electronic warfare identifying and appropriately responding to incoming threats and even Aid the laser weapons The Tempest will be armed with while geography and present realities necessitate that Italy devote most of its attention to its land forces improving the Italian Navy is also on Rome's agenda first Italy wants to develop a new version of the FR frigate these come with either two 76 mm anti-submarine guns or one 127 mm gun and a general purpose 76 mm gun these ships also carry tesus 2 anti- ship missiles with a range in excess of 350 km two 25 mm Auto cannons are also on board these can defend against aircraft drones or missiles Italy is also working on an effort to develop a new class of ship the European Patrol Corvette the effort also includes Spain France Denmark Romania and Greece Portugal also might have some interest this Patrol ship will have at least two versions combat and longrange Patrol Italy seems to prefer the combat version but both will mount a 3D radar and come with short or medium- range anti-air missiles the Corvettes will also supposedly emphasize drones and network connection between different forces on the battlefield more substantially the Italian Navy is developing the 10,000 ton DDX Destroyer which is set to replace two 1990s vintage destroyers currently serving the it Durand de Leen and it melli the DDX will emphasize longrange Firepower with six eight cell missile launchers these can launch Aster anti-air missiles or missiles that can attack Targets on land Leonardo will manufacture the ship's guns which include a 127 mm main gun and three 76 mm secondary guns the main gun will be able to shoot Leonardo's Vulcan guided Munitions the 76 mm guns can fire the dart guided munition there will also be a helicopter deck able to host two Navy eh11 or two sh90 helicopters to support amphibious operations the Italian Navy is also planning a new Landing ship the lxd to replace its older landing craft these will be twice as big at 16,500 tons and host a 30 mm close in defense gun they can carry up to 20 of the new wi amphibious landing craft Italy agreed to buy into 2023 from the domestic Ico company Italy also announced plans in July 2019 to get four new u212 submarines based on a licensing agreement with Germany's Tyson C Marine systems these will replace the older soroc class submarines in its Fleet and the first will enter service in 2025 these will be diesel electric submarines which can stay underwater for about 30 days and fire black shark Torpedoes because of its defeat in World War II and its low level of defense spending after the Cold War it's Italy does not enjoy a great military reputation however that was always something of a misnomer and the military Italy plans to build will make it a center of European hard power although demographic problems with an aging population will bring recruitment difficulties and the financial means are not guaranteed Italy still intends to invest heavily in its forces to policy makers in Rome the Resurgence of an aggressive Russia and the return of War to the European continent have left them with little choice but what do you think of Italy's military buildup will it succeed in making the country a premier player in European and Global hard power capabilities don't forget to let us know in the comments now go and check out how the German military will become Europe's most powerful or click this other video instead also make sure to hit the like And subscribe buttons to support the channel and for more military analysis from military experts Poland's military has been going through a massive transformation possibly resulting in it becoming the next number one military superpower in Europe and it's making Putin's blood run cold after centuries of Domination by foreign powers Poland freed itself from communist rule in 1989 and joined NATO a decade later this was a critical Turning Point not only for NATO but for Poland itself heralding the start of a new era in warsaw's international relations long the play thing of great powers like Germany and its predecessor State Prussia Austria and Russia which had partitioned its territory several times times and oppressed its people in numerous brutal ways Poland is now on the fast track to becoming a great power itself in the year 2023 Poland is stronger than at any point since its Glory Days in the 17th century when the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth dominated much of Eastern Europe and is getting stronger still let's take a look at this incredible Evolution how is Poland transforming itself into a great power and what does it mean for that country Europe and the world the entrance of Poland into NATO was a major geopolitical advantage to the alliance during the Cold War the alliance struggled to contain the Soviet Union as it and its satellite states in the Warsaw Pact stretch Westward all the way to Central Germany if it so desired to move further west NATO's forces on the European continent would be outnumbered and the Communist forces could all concentrate on a narrower front in the European Plain Poland's assession to the Western block completely reversed this geostrategic situation it was now the new post Soviet Russian Federation that faced the geographical disadvantage as NATO's forces could concentrate and Russia had a much broader area of the European plane to defend should War break out Poland's accession to Nato also cut Russia off from much of the Baltic Sea as its Coastline forms part of the natural choke point with Sweden which in 2023 also had pending NATO membership put simply on land and sea Poland's joining NATO was one of the biggest geopolitical and geostrategic disasters for Russia us after the end of the Cold War however Poland is no mere passive player in the alliance it does not contribute to the free rider problem in NATO that President Obama lamented in a 2016 interview with the Atlantic and his successor president Trump repeatedly brought up in Bellos ways in order to try and get NATO members to pay more Poland actually carries its weight in NATO's collective security as of July 2023 it has spent 2.42% of its GDP on defense well above the 2% Benchmark that the alliance considers its standard this makes Poland NATO's thirdd largest defense spender by GDP after Greece at 3.76% and the United States at 3.47% Poland increased its defense spending from just under the 2% Benchmark in 2014 to the current 2.42% over the course of a decade undoubtedly this was done primarily in response to a more aggressive Russia from 2014 onward the polls have a long historic iCal memory and do not want to be the subject of Russian domination ever again Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine strengthened that resolve in warsa Poland's relative level of defense spending compared to Germany's estimated 2022 total of 1.44% has even prompted many American lawmakers to propose strengthening the United States military tires with Warsaw at the expense of Berlin some American policy makers have floated the idea of moving most of the 355,000 US military personnel in Germany further east into Poland a 2020 reshuffling of some American troops from Germany to Poland during the Twilight days of the German skeptical Trump Administration was a potential preview of that process Poland plans to do more too it has increased its defense spending to 4% of GDP in its 2023 budget this would have it surpass Greece and the United States as the largest per capita military spender in NATO and put it at a level over twice that of many other longtime NATO members such as France Germany Italy and Spain as the quantity of Poland's military spending has gone up the quality has gone up too it can afford to spend a hefty amount of money on topof the line military equipment because Poland has enjoyed Breakneck economic growth compared to the rest of Europe it's one of the 21st Century's underreported Miracle stories indeed since liberalization began in 1989 Poland has experienced more economic growth than the highly touted Asian tiger countries like Taiwan Singapore and South Korea in effect Poland has been the tiger of Europe in the postc Cold War era between 1989 and 2015 Poland's GDP per capita based on purchasing power more than doubled and reached 65% of the level seen in Western Europe it was the highest absolute and relative level of wealth in that country since the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth according to the Brookings institution as of 2023 its GDP per capita is about1 19,000 since 1991 Poland's total nominal GDP has grown by 126. 35% with an annual average growth of 3.94% tellingly Poland did not go into recession in the financial crisis of 2008 2009 unlike the larger European Union which shrank by 4.5% Poland's economy instead grew by 4.2% in 2008 and 2.8% in 2009 while the so-called pigs countries Portugal island Italy Greece and Spain struggled with the debt crisis and austerity measures at the time Poland continued ahead with its economic growth the Polish economy shrank by 2.02% in 2020 at the height of the covid-19 pandemic but it weathered the viral storm better than many other countries and bounced back incredibly strongly with a 6.85% growth rate in 2021 all of this speaks highly of the robust and diversified economy that Poland has created in its modern postcommunist era po still places modestly in an absolute ranking of the world's economies especially compared to its NATO peers it has the world's 21st largest economy in GDP by 2022 with a total of $688 billion still the country's economic growth has been such a success story that some observers have estimated it will have a larger economy than the United Kingdom by 2030 if its current trajectory continues already by GDP per capita at purchasing power parity major city ities in Poland like wara pnan krov and rock are much richer than cities in the United Kingdom like Birmingham Manchester and Liverpool although Poland's total GDP per capita still significantly lags the United Kingdom at $46,000 for the polls the trend is their friend their current GDP per capita is almost 11 times higher than it was in 1990 when it was only at a level of $1,731 the days of food shortages and lack of other basic necessities the Po's experienced underc communist rule particularly in the 1980s are long gone the country's Prosperity can be measured in another way too after it joined the European Union in 2004 hundreds of thousands of polls left Poland to seek opportunity in the United Kingdom which as a fellow member of the European Union back then was easy for them to do now the situation has turned on its head as polls who immigrated to Britain are now immigrating and returning home for better opportunities than the sluggish British economy can afford them the Polish government is Keen to hurry the process along its finance ministry has created a program called the Polish deal which offers a % income tax for the first four years to polish igrs who decide to return home but polish expatriates are not the only people seeking a better life there the situation has reversed so much that many British and other Western European expatriate are moving into Poland often commenting highly about the good standard of living and Economic Opportunity there for an affordable price Poland's economy has become a hot bed for technological innovation and Manufacturing and it has one of the most highly educated workforces in Europe with about one in two young polls having achieved a postsecondary education foreign tech companies like Google and Microsoft are opening data centers in Poland meanwhile the Swedish battery manufacturer North Vault completed its construction of its Factory in Poland in May 2023 it's the largest Factory for energy storage systems in Europe Poland also has one 115 aerospace companies working in what is known as its Aviation Valley an area in the southeast of the country that has a high number of pilot training centers and Industrial and scientific research facilities about 35,000 people are employed there among 180 different members that do about 3.5 billion EUR in sales according to the aviation Valley Association the association's long-term objective is to make its area one of Europe's leading Aerospace regions Poland's postcommunist Finance success is all the more remarkable when one considers that its population is declining despite the huge economic growth its fertility rate is only about 1.4 births per woman well below the 2.1 needed for population replacement by the end of the century demographers estimate that Poland will have a population of about 23 million people only a little more than half what it is today with this in mind it is possible that Poland's leaders believe they need to build a top-of-the-line military now while their country's population and economy is at a high point either way the wealth generated by its economic growth has allowed Poland to increase the quality and quantity of its military it plans to double the size of its standing army to a total of 300,000 troops by 2035 it is also investing heavily in a modern technological and capital Rich military with some of the world's most advanced Weapons Systems as part of this process Poland has deepened ties with the United States and South Korea in particular first Poland is creating a modern air fleet based on the fifth generation F-35 lightning 2 fighter jet its initial order is for 32 of these planes meanwhile Poland plans to rid itself of older Soviet era planes like the fourth generation mig29 which it is often Keen to donate to Ukraine for the fight against Russia supplementing the F-35 is an order of 48 South Korean F50 planes the first 10 of which were delivered in July 2023 the fa50 is a combat aircraft introduced in 2005 the jet is capable of SuperSonic flight and performing airto a or air to ground missions just as importantly the fa50 is one of the world's few supersonic training aircraft making it an ideal choice to train polish Pilots to operate the F35 96 American a54 Apache Attack Helicopters are also on the menu for the polls Poland is modernizing its tank and armored forces too it intends to buy 100 116 American M1A1 Abrams tanks and 250 of the newer M1 A2 Abrams Tanks Warsaw plans to supplement this force with 1,000 South Korean K2 main battle tanks this is in addition to its own force of 1,000 polish made borok infantry fighting Vehicles meanwhile Poland is steadily donating the Soviet era t72 tanks in its Arsenal to Ukraine for the poles these old systems are no longer desirable Poland is modernizing its artillery forces as well the government in Warsaw is spending $1 billion on the American High Mar's rocket artillery system which proved so devastating to Russian forces in Ukraine in 2022 it has purchased 18 highas systems as of March 2023 spending $414 million on this platform and this is just the beginning Poland plans to buy a total of 500 highas systems from the United States which will include 45 ATM's missiles as part of A1 billion deal considering how much damage only 16 or so highas systems did to Russia and Ukraine in the late Summer and Autumn offensives in the kiv and Kon or blasts in 2022 without the longrange ATM's missiles this would be a formidable Force for the poles indeed supplementing High Mars are 288 South Korean chanmo multiple rocket launch systems the poles desire modern tube artillery systems as well as part of this effort they are in the process of purchasing South Korean K9 A1 self-propelled howitzers these systems have a range of 34 Mi 600 of these platforms are now in the country more are likely to come Poland is also buying about $5 billion worth of patriot air defense missiles from the United States and is spending $2.4 billion for British cam air defense missiles Russian air and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure undoubtedly set off alarm Bells among government officials in warsa Poland is creating a modern air defense network to ensure the same does not happen to its cities Poland's military buildup in size and technological quality is rapidly creating the most formidable fighting force on the European continent when completed the 300,000 man standing army will be the largest in Europe by number of boots on the ground in size Readiness and technological capability Poland is set to become the most militarily powerful it's been since its golden age in the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth of the 17th century which the poles will remember fondly the Commonwealth routinely defeated Russian forces in fact the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth defeated Russia in the early 17th century and even occupied Moscow something that Napoleon and Hitler failed to do and only accomplished by one other fighting force the Mongols for a little while the poles and their Russian boar collaborators installed the Sun King Sigman III of Poland as the Russian Zar this episode was in many ways the height of the commonwealths power but a century later the tide would turn completely and Poland would cease to exist as a state Poland's new military is a source of pride a signal that the bad times of partition occupation and communism have finally been banished and Poland is retaking its place among the great powers of Europe for the poles the 21st century military buildup and change in their country's status is not only a matter of Pride it is partially a matter of necessity and for current not just historical reasons Poland shares a border with the heavily fortified and nuclear armed Russian Enclave of kaliningrad in the north Russian figures show that about 100,000 troops are stationed in this tight area but Western experts believe the number might be twice that kaliningrad is also home to Russia's Baltic Fleet furthermore kaliningrad's presence along the borders of Poland and Lithuania creates a rare weakness in NATO's geostrategic position this weakness is known as The salki Gap the 40m Corridor across the Polish Lithuanian border that separates kaliningrad with Russia's vassel State Belarus a pincer offensive Eastward from kaliningrad and Westward from Belarus threatens to cut the three Baltic states Lithuania Estonia and lvia off from Poland and the rest of NATO by land Poland would see Heavy fighting in such an operation meanwhile kaliningrad is only about 240 Mi north of Warsaw with such densely concentrated forces in The Enclave a strong military cap AP able of meeting a potential Russian offensive from its westernmost Bastion is a matter of national survival it presents a demand for increased spending that NATO States further to the West simply do not have in effect those countries can afford to be the Free Riders President Obama complained about Poland does not have that luxury its territory is one that would be wrecked if a broader War were to ever break out in Europe again Germany presents an additional Demand on Poland to increase its military Readiness for historical reasons Poland was easy with the comparatively warm relationship Germany shared with Russia prior to the invasion of Ukraine this situation came partially as a result of the former's heavy dependency on Russian oil and natural gas the nordstream pipeline across the Baltic from Russian to German territory was perhaps the best example of this chummy relationship undoubtedly Germany and Russia's flirtation called to mind the ribon trop pact the non-aggression agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 that partitioned Poland between them among some policy makers in Warsaw Poland's military expansion is a way to put pressure on the Germans to pay their fair share of NATO's defense and to remember who their true Ally in the 21st century is for now the move seems to be paying off as Germany has declared it will increase its defense spending to the NATO Benchmark 2% of GDP in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine there are many Skeptics who say they have heard this from Berlin many times before however Warsaw probably has a disproportionate amount of them Poland has also been a leading provider of military aid to Ukraine with 2.48 billion EUR worth this is far behind countries like the United States United Kingdom and Germany but Poland's Aid is the third largest of any individual country in Europe and disproportionate to its GDP in contrast the EU institutions have mostly provided financial aid rather than military Ukraine's defense is a necessity for Poland the last thing the poles want is for Russia to get even closer to their border Russia's AIMS in Ukraine are antithetical to Poland's very existence for the United States Poland's rise to a military great power on the European continent is a most welcome development to the point that Washington is even willing to lend a hand in the process in 2022 the United States Congress approved a $ 288.2 million military Financial package to Poland to speed its arms build up along the stated purpose was to deter and defend against further Russian aggression in Europe the aid mutually benefits both countries for Washington containing beijing's Ambitions in the Indo Pacific region is now the number one foreign policy priority even with Russia's invasion of Ukraine with Europe now only a secondary theater in the United States geopolitical strategy Poland's military buildup is a much welcome boost for America's goals as it will reduce the European Defense burden which has been so disproportionately carried by the superpower across the Atlantic since World War II the American help is welcome for war sore I Poland's military spending comes at a high price tag about 85 billion e worth on new weapons by 2030 and with risks to come at the expense of Civilian projects inflation in Poland is also running high at 177% and economic growth though still high is slowing there is a risk of resource strain with such high levels of military spending however the leadership in Warsaw believes that the price of the arms buildup IS affordable and of secondary concern Yaris La kazinski the chairman of Poland ruling Law And Justice party summed up the mentality behind this expansion in military spending in early 2023 when he said it is better to be in debt and even to have to make cuts to budgets in other areas than to be occupied Whoever has seen what is happening in Ukraine should have no doubt about this kazinski a former polish prime minister is considered one of warsaw's leading power Brokers he was born in 1949 and remembers the bad old dates where he was an active member in anti-communist circles in Poland he and other politicians of his generation understand what is at stake and what needs to be protected for them Poland's ascendancy to a militarily great power is not only a matter of Pride but one of survival Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its numerous and varied war crimes there stirred both recent and deep historical demons in warsa the response has been to build a First Rate military that will soon be without peer on the European continent if all goes according to plan but will it what do you think tell us your opinion opinions on Poland's economic rise and Military buildup and what it means for European and World politics and don't forget to hit the like button and subscribe for more military analysis from military experts Vladimir Putin's ambition to intimidate NATO with his Ukrainian Invasion has spectacularly backfired far from sewing Division and halting expansion his actions have galvanized the alliance boosting defense budgets across the board and ushering Finland and Sweden into the fold how's that for unintended consequences previously we explored finland's contributions to Nato now it's time to delve into Sweden's dramatic journey into the alliance why is Sweden's NATO membership a strategic nightmare for Putin's Grand designs for one Sweden is seriously considering developing a sixth generation fighter jet and despite its historically low level of military spending its Army is highly Advanced but this is all just the tip of the iceberg stick around as we dive into all of the reasons Sweden terrifies Putin let's begin Sweden formerly applied for NATO membership alongside Finland in May 2022 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine for both countries it was the end of a long tradition of military non-alignment at the time Vladimir Putin dismissed the new developments saying that the two countries joining the alliance would not constitute a threat in itself rather he said that he would only consider it a threat if they deployed a new military infrastructure in their territories the the latter came with a backhanded warning of a response in kind privately though Putin understood how deep of a blow this is to Russian power in Europe and he must have been hoping that internal controversy would prevent them from joining to admit a new member to the alliance all NATO countries must be in agreement turkey stalled entry for Finland and Sweden claiming that the two countries harbored members of Kurdish groups that it recognizes as terrorist organizations Finland and Sweden's prohibition on arms exports to Turkey in response to its military operations in Sy in 2019 was also an item of complaint for the Turks in the Turks resistance Vladimir Putin had a hope turkey is a purchaser of Russia's S400 air defense system which has earned it the eye of the United States turkey has also proven a vital Lifeline for Russian energy exports and is now moscow's fourth largest customer turkey has also gone through a period of democratic backsliding under erdogan who has been imp power there in one form or another since 2003 might the Turks prevent the two new countries from joining after all Finland proved better able to overcome the Turk's objections and it joined the alliance on April 4th 2023 Sweden however still saw its membership stalled with anchor claiming that Stockholm was being more intransigent about its concerns than Helsinki had been at a summit in Madrid in July 2022 Sweden and turkey agreed on renewed counterterrorism cooperation both in and outside of NATO's framework additionally NATO would establish a new office the special coordinator for counterterrorism however turkey claimed that Sweden was dragging its feet on these commitments particularly as the latter's courts blocked extraditions of individuals that it considered terrorists protests in Stockholm where copies of the Quran were burned and Turkish president erdogan was hanged in effigy caused further diplomatic tension turkey said that this amounted to a hate crime while the swedes said it was an item of free expression then there was another obstacle Hungary also objected to Sweden's NATO membership budapest's objections were not specific like anchor had been but Stockholm's accusations about the supposed erosion of the rule of law under prime minister Victor Orban was an item of dispute the hungarians denied this and claimed that Sweden's accusations made it a less than trustworthy partner after complicated diplomatic maneuvering where Sweden changed some of its domestic laws and relaxed rules over its armed sales to Turkey the Turkish Parliament finally voted to permit Sweden to join nato in January 2024 then on February 26th the Hungarian Parliament followed suit the two countries signed an arms deal as part of this agreement the agreement included budapest's purchase of four grien fighter jets and expanded pre-existing Logistics contracts Vladimir Putin's last hopes had run out Sweden's entry into the alliance became official when it submitted its instrument of assession to the United States government which is NATO's depository as outlined in the North Atlantic Treaty this occurred on March 7th 2024 although NATO has frequently been criticized for adding members of questionable utility and exposing its members to security commitments that might undermine the collective defense principle enshrined in Article 5 Sweden is not such a case and it adds a lot to the alliance first Sweden's entry into the alliance brings renewed geostrategic vulnerabilities for Putin the fall of the Soviet Union severely constrained Russia's ability to influence the Baltic its current projections into the sea come only with the small enclaves around St Petersburg and kaliningrad post-soviet Russia's only choice in the face of this new reality was to heavily fortify kaliningrad and use it as the center of an anti- access area denial strategy through a buildup of aircraft anti- ship missiles and anti-aircraft missiles through these Russia hoped to undermine NATO movements in the Baltic and threaten the Commerce of its member states in effect Russia attempted to do to the Baltic what China has attempted to do to the South China Sea through its Island Building campaign Sweden's entry into NATO is a grave threat to this post-soviet strategy it has the largest Coastline of any Baltic Nation allowing for free access to and from the North Sea making it a maritime Transit that's much more difficult for Russia to disrupt Sweden's island of gotland in particular is a strategic area it's a key pivot point in the btic and only 250 km north of kaliningrad this is the perfect area for a forward military base one that can threaten kaliningrad and carefully observe Russian activity in the area it's impossible for Russia to send troops and supplies between St Petersburg and kaliningrad without transiting close to gotland in anticipation of its importance Sweden is remilitarized the island as part of its entry into NATO it's only a matter of time before Stockholm equips it with A2 ad assets of its own therefore in any conflict kaliningrad will be surrounded and extremely difficult for Russia to reinforce and resupply additionally Sweden's accession to Nato opens up alternative ways to reinforce the vulnerable Baltic states the salki Gap the short border between Poland and Lithuania which is sandwiched between kaliningrad and Russia's vassel state of bellarus has long been considered NATO's biggest geostrategic weakness a pins movement of Russian forces between these two lines could cut the Baltic states off from their NATO allies by land while Russia overwhelms them with great numerical superiority over a short front but with Sweden in the alliance the Baltic states can now be reinforced through a direct sea route that Russia is in a poor position to dispute Sweden joining the alliance makes the Baltic for all practical purposes a NATO Lake Russia is now surrounded by hostile coastlines in the Baltic Sea making it practically impossible for it to Transit it ships through the area in any confrontation NATO is in position to take control of the sea and cut off Russian trade while reinforcing hotspots as needed Sweden not only brings geographical advantages at sea but also on land its assession to Nato and the reunification of two centuries of military non-alignment also opens an unbroken land Corridor between Norway and Finland if either country were to be attacked along its respective borders with Russia Sweden connect as a supply and Troop Transit hub for the other Sweden's accession to Nato or also comes with military advantages though often lampooned as being somehow effeminate and lacking Vigor in its military Affairs Sweden is better prepared for conflict than many of its European neighbors although it does not currently meet its NATO Benchmark of 2% of GDP on defense spending only 1.3% in 2022 that number has steadily increased from a low of 1% in 2018 Stockholm plans to continue with this trend and accelerate it in 2022 Sweden claimed it aimed to reach the 2% Mark by 2026 in September 2023 Sweden doubled down on this with its defense Ministry saying that it would already meet NATO's definition of the 2% Mark in 2024 since the alliance's definition is broader and includes more items than Appropriations nevertheless on an official defense Ministry document Stockholm insisted it would not be stopping there the government intends to continue proposing additional resources in the coming years so that the military defense Appropriations will equate to 2% of GDP Sweden or also has an advanced military despite its historically low level of spending among its useful assets is a fleet of 122 stvan tanks an upgraded variant of the German Leopard 2 Sweden agreed to send 10 of its stvan tanks to Ukraine in February 2023 according to the orx blog Ukraine has since lost six of these but they demonstrated their worth in an incident from October where a Russian anti-tank missile destroyed one of the Swedish tanks however the crew survived Sweden thus brings additional tanks to NATO's land Forces ones which protect the lives of valuable tank Crews from common anti- armor weapons aside from its tanks Sweden has about 8,000 other vehicles and 26 self-propelled artillery systems but it's lacking in mlrs systems and towed artillery as it has none of them according to the Global Firepower index entry into NATO and an increase in its military budget should reduce this deficiency in the skies the swedes command a fleet of about 30 Sab J 39 grien aircraft these fourth generation jet fighters come packed with the Beyond visual range meteor air-to-air missile which entered service in 2016 these projectiles have a range of about 150 km With A No Escape Zone of 60 km the No Escape Zone is the area where there is a high probability of a kill even when the target is notified of the incoming threat the meteor's 60 km range for this is the largest among the world's airto a missiles the missile is according to Sab highly resistant to active and passive countermeasures like chaff flares and electronic warfare perhaps unsurprisingly Ukraine has asked Sweden for grip and fighter jets and in August 2023 claimed that Ukrainian Pilots were already training on them in December Ukraine and Sweden officially began Dialogue on whether to donate some of the latter's gripens to the Ukrainian Air Force Sweden's entry into the alliance also offers the potential for its Air Force to get even stronger Finland for example began its F-35 program in December 2021 when Helsinki selected the lightning two to replace the fa18 Hornets in its Arsenal Finland ordered 64 F35 planes in a deal worth about 9.4 billion as early as 2014 Sweden signed an agreement to train together with Finland and allow NATO assistance in a crisis now that both countries are part of NATO it's possible and even likely that Sweden will get its own F35 Fleet in the near future especially since more foreign countries are already opting for it over Sweden's capable grippen in international arms deals Sweden has also expressed interest in being part of the multinational effort to develop a sixth generation fighter jet it was once part of the global air combat program alongside the United Kingdom Italy and Japan although it officially withdrew from the effort in November 2023 it remains to be seen if Sweden enters another effort to produce a sixth generation fighter that same month Stockholm announced it would hold off on procuring a future fighter until 2031 after which it would assess risks and possibilities what we do know is that Sweden is starting to think about a fighter to succeed the grien so that it can strengthen its Air Force against future threats either way it will only get stronger over time thanks to the renewed commitments to its domestic defense and its seriousness about its role in NATO but Sweden's most powerful addition to NATO's Arsenal is not on land or in the skies but on the Seas if finland's entry provided an almost fatal check to Russian power on land Sweden does the same on and even maybe more importantly under the Seas although Sweden only has five submarines three of them are of the advanced gotland class these submarines are powered by a novel method the Sterling Air independent propulsion AIP system unlike most conventional submarines the gotland class uses liquid oxygen stored in onboard tanks to run diesel engines when the vessel's batteries need to be recharged this means that they do not need to surface as part of this procedure as a traditional diesel electric sub must do the AIP method not only comes with greater stealth it also allows for deployment periods normally only seen with nuclear submarines and indeed consensus is that the gotland class submarine is the most advanced non-nuclear type ever built such long deployments are valuable assets for NATO even in a defensive role the Baltic is a narrow area with several natural choke points stationing Sweden's gotland class submarines in these choke points will enable their Crews to listen in on and detect Russian submarines and other Naval operations increasing NATO's intelligence gathering capacity and its ability to defend vital infrastructure like gas pipelines and underwater communication cables which Russian submarine crews are trained to find and disrupt or tap into Sweden's submarines will also be able to stay there for weeks at a time remaining on constant alert ironically submarine operations in the Baltic have been a traditional weakness in NATO because with an average depth of only 60 M it's too shallow for nuclear powered subs to operate in and because the United States Navy's underwater vessels are all nuclear powered they have not been able to to contribute to the security of the Baltic the importance of this security is often overlooked as the Baltic is one of the world's busiest shipping areas accounting for roughly 15% of the world's Maritime trade Sweden's entry into NATO mitigates this security deficiency the Baltic also has varying salinity levels due to the large amounts of rivers that feed it this variation changes the buoyancy of a submarine and the amount of noise it makes one must know these Waters to stay silent and because Sweden has been operating submarines in the Baltic since 1904 longer than any other country it has institutional experience that no other state can match submarine filla Commander Frederick Linden perhaps best described the situation in an interview with Reuters we have expertise which fills a gap expertise that NATO doesn't have two more submarines are scheduled for delivery in Sweden by 2028 this new type called the a26 will be able to launch remote controlled or autonomous underwater drones to further increase intelligence collection and reduce risk to the crew Sweden has a robust surface Fleet too with 35 Fleet units in its active inventory as of 2024 according to the world directory of modern military warships these ships are mostly like Corvettes and offshore Patrol vessels but it will also bring nine valuable Mine Warfare ships at the very least Sweden's entry into NATO adds to Russia's Naval disadvantages in the Baltic the Kremlin simply does not have the numbers or the Firepower to compete with NATO's Naval forces there and it will not be able to do so anytime soon NATO's combined Navy has gotten much stronger with Sweden's membership while the balance has tipped even more against Russia for Putin this is likely a big personal blow to his pride like many Russian rulers before him stretching back to Peter the Great he has fancied his country as a sea power and has tried but failed to restore the Russian Navy's Soviet era capabilities now Russia's access to the world's waterways is even further restricted and it all came because of its latest dictators own actions but the swedes don't intend to add to Nato only through air and sea power Stockholm has every intention of doing so on land as much as it can in that regard the swedes pledged to increase the size of their army by 30,000 personnel with a 2025 timetable bringing the total up to 90,000 the 2024 budget includes investments in order to make this happen such as increased Appropriations for officer training the new troops will be a welcome addition to the forward missions of NATO's multinational battle groups which have been deployed in increased numbers to the countries bordering Ukraine since the start of the invasion in the worst case scenario Sweden's bigger Army will constitute a nearby reserve on an immediate call to help the baged and outnumbered Baltic states Sweden also has a reserve force of 32,900 Personnel Plus 255,000 paramilitary troops it has a total Manpower reserve of 4.2 million overall Sweden's military is ranked 29th in the 2024 list provided by the Global Firepower index in addition to its existing military technology and assets Sweden has a robust arms industry despite its traditional neutrality this gives the country a good foundation to actually carry through with its stated intentions on building a modern military it's in a much better position to rearm than Germany for example whose frequent pledges to increase military spending have always fallen short Sweden's arms industry will also be able to help other NATO members rearm adequately and thanks to its strategic position Sweden can serve as a convenient nearby Hub to manufactur equipment and ammunition which the war in Ukraine has shown gets depleted at a staggering rate in a pier or near peer conflict Russia's invasion of Ukraine deeply Disturbed the nations of Europe it was disturbing enough for Sweden to end over 200 years of military neutrality which prevailed even during both world wars in fact the last time Sweden entered an armed conflict was in 1814 with the Swedish Norwegian War thanks to Putin's decision to invade Ukraine that has now changed and Sweden is arming once again historically Russia was Sweden's greatest enemy and Putin clearly recalled unpleasant memories for the swedes No Matter How Deeply buried they were Putin may have wanted to weaken the transatlantic Alliance through an easy victory in Ukraine but his failure to scare the world with the Russian military might only have made his geopolitical disadvantage worse with Sweden's imminent entry NATO is now stronger and the vice around Russia in the Baltic is all but closed Russia is now at its weakest position there since the Great Northern war in in the early 18th century the swedes under Charles I 12th lost that conflict and Russia soon became the preeminent power in the Baltic over 2 centuries later it almost feels like the ghost of Charles the 12th is finally having the last laugh Russia's current dictator Putin may walk away from his war with some territorial gains in Ukraine but for him was it worth the balance of power tipping even more in NATO's favor thanks to Sweden's entry into the alliance he can pretend all he likes that none of this bothers him but hold up in the Kremlin he probably isn't too happy about this development to say the least meanwhile Sweden is in a military alliance with all the other Scandinavian States for the first time since the Calmar Union in 1523 Putin's aggression United the Nordic countries in a way not seen in five centuries so much for weakening and over oring the West what do you think about Sweden's accession to Nato in what other ways might it alter European geopolitics don't forget to let us know in the comments now go and check out why is Sweden preparing for war with Russia or click this other video instead also make sure to hit the like button and subscribe for more military analysis from military experts guess who's back in the military Spotlight Japan's shaking off its peaceful image and stepping into some serious boots aiming to become a major player in the defense game again with neighbors casting nervous glances and an assertive China on the rise Japan's move is stirring up the waters in East Asia today we're diving into what's behind Japan's big pivot from pacifism checking out their shiny new military toys and seeing how old rivals are reacting to this plot twist it's a story of transformation tension and alliances in the making join us as we uncover how Japan is rewriting its role on the regional stage challenging the status quo and maybe just maybe changing the game for good but first let's delve into the Intriguing history of Japan's rise to power setting the stage to peel back the layers of today's GE political shifts pushing Tokyo out of its strategic shell what's driving this dramatic change and why now to understand let's turn our attention to Japan's most formidable neighboring giant China the rise of China since it opened up following Ma's death and particularly since it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001 has severely disrupted the international balance of power in East Asia between 2002 and 2022 China's economy grew by an average of 8.8% per year in contrast Japan grew only at an average rate of 0.65% entering sharp recessions between 2008 and 2009 and again between 2019 and 2020 in 2010 China surpassed Japan as the largest economy in Asia and the second largest in the world the new economic order inevitably meant a new military one in 2002 Japan was ahead of China in military spending with the former spending about $40 billion the second most in the world to China's 30 billion that changed fast China became the world's second largest military spender in 2007 a spot it's not relinquished since in 2022 China spent almost $300 billion on its military which was 5 and a half times Japan's expenditure at about $54 billion the true number is likely higher than that as the United States Department of Defense noted that China's real military budget is likely between 1.1 and two times higher than its official figures suggest this would increase the gap between China and Japan to 11.2 times at maximum interpretation China has used its new military might to build the world's largest navy by a sheer number of vessels modernize its Air Force increase its nuclear stockpile and build an arsenal of thousands of ballistic and cruise missiles all of these assets severely threaten Japan's national security and China has demonstrated a willingness to use them in nearby seas and skies China has cranked up its gry Zone operations against the Saku islands and Taiwan in 2016 a Chinese Naval vessel entered the 12 nautical mile territorial sea around the Saku islands for the first time previously only Chinese Coast Guard ships had done so in 2018 a Chinese submarine did the same in 2020 Chinese Coast Guard ships operated near the Saku islands for 111 consecutive days and 333 for all of 2020 in February 2021 Beijing enacted a new law authorizing ring the Chinese Coast Guard to use Force against foreign vessels in Maritime areas under Chinese jurisdiction conveniently this includes the senkakus which China claims are its diu Islands in 2022 and 23 China conducted a series of large Naval and air exercises off Taiwan as part of these operations some missiles enter Japan's airspace and Waters further a field China's military expansion in the South China Sea threatens to cut the shipping lanes that Japan depends on in 2022 Japan imported 25.3% of its GDP and exported 21.5% 42% of this Maritime trade passes through the South China Sea among the most important of these resources is oil going through the straight of Mala from the Persian Gulf though less pronounced than China's the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear ballistic missile program the latter of which frequently violates Japanese airspace also poses a significant challenge for Tokyo Japan also shares a maritime border with Russia which became more aggressive against its neighbors under Vladimir Putin ultimately leading to a fullscale invasion of Ukraine Tokyo and Moscow also dispute control over the southernmost kural Islands some policy makers in Japan have described their country as being on the front lines in the face of these aggressive authoritarian nations in response to these developments the Japanese government under prime minister fumio kashida announced in November 2022 that it would increase defense spending to reach 2% of GDP by April 2027 while the reaction to this development was positive in the United States and among its Western allies the response in the region was much more surprising some of the Nations Japan has traditionally been at odds with like South Korea welcomed the move if tepidly why is this development so surprising and what implications could it have for Japan's influence in the region to grasp the full impact we need to delve into Japan's historically tense relationships with its neighbors for most of its history Japan was an isolationist country being an island nation it could afford to be Japanese warriors fought each other far more frequently than they fought foreign enemies prior to World War II only one foreign power ever attempted to attack the Japanese home Islands this was the Mongol empire under Kubla Khan in 1274 and 1281 both of these attempts were short-lived failures and Japan kept to its own devices for three more centuries still Japan displayed an early willingness to learn from foreigners that would prove critical for its National trajectory later on we'll get to that soon when Portuguese Traders brought Firearms to Japan the country's Warriors quickly adapted to them this was the country's sangoku period the span between the mid-5th and early 17th centuries that saw the decline of Japan's previous central government under the ashikaga shogunate and the rise of ambitious and Powerful feudal Lords known as daimo who saw their chance to increase their wealth power and influence in this era Japan was one of the most militarized and dangerous places in the world with more frequent and intense fighting than any other country hundreds of of thousands of people likely died even so Japan's militarism was contained strictly within its Island borders that changed radically in the 1590s by then the country had been brought to a period of relative peace thanks to the efforts of two of Japan's so-called three unifiers Oda Nobunaga and toyotomi hioshi however Japan was still a heavily militarized society and the peace at home was precarious especially with hideyoshi's lowly Origins and lack of an heir of military age in 1592 Japan abandoned its isolationism and invaded Korea hioshi apparently expected an easy campaign that would help consolidate his control over Japan not least of which by removing many dangerous Samurai that could rebel against him on land he was correct as better armed and battle hardened Japanese soldiers easily defeated their Korean foes although historians debate the grandness of hideyoshi's Ambitions he made overtures of conquering Ming China demanding tribute from the Spanish colonial government in the Philippines and even moving onward to India we will never know how serious he was about these ideas but they did anticipate things to come and it was the beginning of a long running historical animosity between Korea and Japan hide Yoshi's successor as the ruler of Japan was Tokugawa aasu who returned the country to its traditional isolationism for 250 years Japan remained at peace and cut itself off from the rest of the world the only foreigners allowed to enter the country were Dutch Traders at the Port of deima near Nagasaki it brought short-term benefits but this policy nearly proved disastrous at a time when the power of the European Empires was growing in 1839 the first Opium War began in China this marked the start of what the Chinese government considers today their country's Century of humiliation China Was Defeated and subsequent defeats forced the Ching Dynasty into unequal treaties with the Western Powers Japan proved much more adaptable although isolated Japanese officials and Scholars were interested in the western knowledge the Dutch Traders brought with them and they remained informed of events abroad when the American Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan in 1853 the Japanese understood that they were at a hopeless disadvantage wanting to avoid the fate of China at all costs forward-thinking leaders in Japan agreed to trade treaties with the West on far more equal terms than those imposed on China they also ended the tekawa shogunate and built a modern industrial State under the authority of the emperor Magi in a period known as the Magi restoration Japan successfully modernized and therefore avoided being colonized or dictated to by the Western Powers indeed the country's rise to international power in the late 19th century was phenomenal to prove the point it defeated the Ching Dynasty in the first Ceno Japanese war of 1894 to 95 and annexed the island of Formosa modern Taiwan to its Authority it also forced Ching China to recognize the Korean Peninsula as being in Japan's sphere of influence after its victory over Russia in the russo-japanese war of 1904 to 1905 the Western powers tacitly acknowledged Japan as the hedgman of Northeast Asia and did not interfere in the sphere of influence it had created for itself Japan had once again ended its isolationism and achieved a level of power only supposedly imagined in hoshi's wildest dreams with this success behind it Japan was in a position to launch its bid for Domination of The Wider indopacific region Under the Umbrella of the greater East Asia co- Prosperity sphere Japan hoped to solidify its hedony over all of East Asia pushing out both Western imperialism and and communism however Japan's defeat in World War II ended these Ambitions the country's post-war Constitution explicitly renounced war or even the threat of War as a legitimate function of the new Japanese State constitutionally Japan may only maintain a military force adequate to its self-defense for the rest of its geopolitical security it would rely on its new Ally the United States whose military was stationed in the country partially as a way of preventing Japan's strategic Resurgence for decades this Arrangement kept these Asia in a state of relative peace but even so Japan's neighbors never forgot the country's aggressive foreign policy both under its previous ma regime between 1889 and 1947 and in some cases the much more remote sangoku period Japan still remained a significant Regional player it was until 2010 the largest economy in Asia and had a huge soft power presence through the power of its popular entertainment industry despite this anti-japanese sentiment remains strong which was one of the reasons why Tokyo resisted rearmament for such a long time even with the hawkish policies of Shinzo arbe who was in power for a record 9 years between two terms Japan proved institutionally reluctant to a major shift in its post-world War II defense posture although ARB increased military spending he did not do so in a way that radically departed from his predecessors AR had more success in loosening the strict interpretation of Japan's article 9 in 2015 the PM pushed legislation through the country's Parliament that recognized jaan's right to be involved in Collective self-defense with its allies meaning that it could deploy its military overseas to assist its allies in the event of hostilities although this move was welcomed by the United States it set off deep doubts among other countries in Asia especially in the Northeast nevertheless it's arguable that AR was making a smart bet with his plans to expand Japan's military power the shift in the Region's geopolitical balance and the way Japan remade itself in the decades after World War II also meant a gradual shift in public sentiment toward the prospect of a more capable Japanese military in the region for example in the late 1970s Japan began its Fuda doctrine of reaching out to the Southeast Asian Nations by reiterating its pacifism and emphasizing a more equal relationship this helped to improve relations with those countries until Japan was viewed positively in 2015 both China and Japan were viewed favorably by a majority of the public in the region according to a Pew scientific survey of over 15,300 people over 80% of of the public in Malaysia Vietnam and the Philippines viewed Japan favorably while 71% of Indonesians did such views of Japan in the areas it formerly occupied reflects the effectiveness of the fakuda doctrine and Tokyo's soft power strategy still further north in the area with the deepest historical experience with Japan views were far different only 25% of South Koreans and 12% of Chinese view Japan favorably that same year another Pew study revealed that 61% of South Koreans viewed China favorably 78% of Malaysians 63% of Indonesians and even 54% of Filipinos did but the Vietnamese had a sharply negative 74% disapproval rating of China and 89% of the Japanese public did by 2023 when the results of China's more aggressive foreign policy had become more apparent the situation changed sharply in that Year's Pew survey 77% of South Koreans viewed China unfavorably approval in Indonesia also dropped dramatically with a 49% favorable and 25% unfavorable rating Japan meanwhile largely maintained its favorable ratings a 2023 poll of asaan countries by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that 93% of those surveys had a favorable view of Japan 91% valued the country's role as an upholder of peace and stability in the region and 88% said Japan was a peace-loving nation in the decades since the end of World War II doubts remained Taiwan and South Korea the two countries with the deepest historical experience of being occupied by Japan were the most hostile even in 2020 president Sai inen saw criticism for tweeting in Japanese during her re-election campaign however for a Taiwan constantly under threat from a Mainland Chinese regime that has repeatedly said that reunification is not optional there has been little choice but to embrace Japan a 2022 survey by the Japan Taiwan exchange association's Taipei office essentially the Japanese Embassy in Taiwan revealed that 60% of respondents said Japan was the country they could trust the most which was up by 10 points from the previous study done in 2018 60% also chose Japan as their favorite foreign country the shift in attitude is more pronounced among younger cohorts of Japan's neighbors relations with South Korea are the most complicated they grew worse even as China's intentions to unilaterally overthrow the status quo in the region became clear in 2019 Japan announced it would no longer consider South Korea a favored trade partner and imposed export controls on electronic components that are vital for major South Korean companies like Samsung the move came after diplomatic and Court battles involving Japan's atrocities in Korea during the colonization period between 1910 and 1945 South Koreans responded to Japan's move with a widespread boycott however relations between the two began to mend with the election of yunsuk Yol to the South Korean presidency in 2022 in the summer of 2023 Yun and kashida met with Biden at Camp David there they released a statement committing to a new era of cooperation including annual meetings at the summit and ministerial levels on security and economic matters the shift marked an end to South Korea's previous policy of trying to deepen economic ties with China while maintaining its security alignment with the United States with such winds behind it Tokyo could begin its new military buildup on firmer footing in the region when the kashida government announced its intentions for Japan's military reaction in the region was not as hostile as it would have been a few years earlier for example in Thailand a country not occupied during the war but forced into alliance with it State media reacted in a mixed manner it warned Japan to be extremely careful as if this trend continues unabated it could backfire and rekindle old Flames nevertheless the ties praised Japan for strengthening its Maritime Security operation with Vietnam the Philippines and Indonesia in South Korea public reaction was more negative with some media sources fearing that Japan's new offensive capabilities would lead to unwelcome military involvement on the Korean Peninsula nevertheless South Korea's foreign Ministry was much more receptive to the announcement that it would have been a year earlier while warning that Tokyo must get its consent before taking any action that would Gravely affect Soul's national interests such as using its new Counterstrike capability around the Korean Peninsula the South Koreans nevertheless said that it was desirable for Japan to implement a security policy that would contribute to Regional stability in August 2023 the United States South Korea and Japan showcased their united front with joint ballistic missile defense drills in the East China Sea a direct response to North Korea's botched satellite launch fast forward 2 months and the trio unveiled their inaugural trilateral aerial drill but Japan's strategic alliances stretch Beyond this Triad its fortifying relationships across the region as a pivotal player in the quad alongside the United States Australia and India Japan actively engages in exercises like malib bar reinforcing its military footprint a testament to this expanding reach is the deployment of Japanese F-35 Jets to Australia marking a new chapter of Defense cooperation Japan's web of security Partnerships isn't just growing it's evolving knitting a stronger fabric of regional defense with southeast Asia as its latest thread but how is it doing this and what does this mean for the future of asia-pacific security in 2016 despite the overtures then president Rodrigo duterte made to China Japan and the Philippines signed an agreement allowing the transfer of Defense equipment in 2023 this bore fruit with the Philippines purchasing a mitubishi electronic warning and radar control system in April 2022 Japan and the Philippines agreed to expand their partnership and conduct more joint military drills in November 2023 Japan and Vietnam agreed to deepen their bilateral security cooperation including the potential for the former to transform military equipment to the latter the next month Japan and Malaysia announced they would Elevate their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership this announcement included the signing of a new Security deal worth $2.8 million to help Malaysia's Maritime security equipment Provisions included supplies and rescue boats and according to Malaysian sources monitoring and surveillance equipment many of these new Partnerships are part of Japan's overseas security assistance program which is part of its new Regional security strategy this is an understated break from its post World War II foreign policy which forbade Tok from using international aid for military purposes other partner countries in the Osa include Fiji and Bangladesh while this program forbids the transfer of lethal equipment there's no guarantee that prohibition will remain in place in the future should policy makers in Tokyo consider the transfer of lethal Aid to be warranted perhaps the best way to sum up the situation comes from the same TI State media Source we mentioned earlier it must be clear today that the Japan with which southeast Asia has been familiar throughout the post-war years is no longer the same the part 70 years of a docile Japan are no more the news that Japan would be ending its strategic Retreat would in Prior Years be met with great alarm in East Asia however the times are changing fast because of the success of its economic Partnerships and the flowering of its soft power Japan was able to improve orend relations with Nations it once abused and the rise of a newly aggressive China has left these less powerful nations with little choice but to align with Japan while the new weapons it's arming itself with might get the most attention the broader military context is that Japan is gradually ending its hard power isolation with its new military hardware at home and security Partnerships abroad including with partners that might have been Unthinkable a few years ago Japan is poised to be a regional military Powerhouse and this time with a much more positive reception among its neighbors what do you think about Japan's military buildup and the security Partnerships it's made with its neighbors is Japan about to reclaim its place as the leading military power in East Asia don't forget to let us know in the comments now go and check out how the Ukrainian conflict is reshaping Japan's defense strategy or click this other video instead also make sure to hit the like button and subscribe to the channel for more military analysis from military experts today the United States is the largest superpower in the world but has that always been the case the answer to that question is a resounding No in fact up until the second world war the United States had no interest in becoming a major power if that's true how did America become a superpower and why did it happen after World War II we hear the word superpower all of the time but what does that really mean you'd be surprised to learn that there's no real definition of what makes a country a superpower at least one that everyone can agree on also there are no specific numbers a country needs to achieve to be considered a superpower be it the size of the army the country's GDP or the number of allies it has so if there's no definition of superpower or specific numbers that a country needs to achieve then how do you know if you are a superpower it mostly comes down to what other countries think if they believe you are a superpower then you probably are a superpower but that is not enough to Define superpower we must look deeper into what makes a superpower perhaps there are certain traits that all superpowers share in fact there are military might superpowers need to have a large and powerful military they must be able to project Force almost everywhere in the world on the ground in the air and at sea their weapons are technologically Superior to other countries and almost always have military bases spread across the globe economic strength a superpower must have a strong economy this can be best measured through its gross domestic product what is GDP it's a way to measure the total value of all goods and services produced within a country a high GDP typically indicates a strong economy there are other factors as well a moderate inflation rate low unemployment an extensive infrastructure a reasonable amount of foreign debt International influence a superpower can convince other countries to support its interests policies and actions often this takes the form of countries sharing mutual interests and building strong alliances in extreme situations a superow has the willingness to impose economic sanctions and sometimes will threaten military action to get its way although these three factors military might a strong economy and being able to influence other countries are the Hallmarks of a superpower there are other factors as well superpowers are politically stable it doesn't matter if they are Democratic or authoritarian just that the government is stable superpowers tend to have large populations and plentiful resources they possess advanced technology and their people have a strong sense of nationalism they have a unified culture and there is little or no sectionalism so now we know the traits of a superpower let's look at some of the countries that may have been considered superpowers in the modern era Britain may have been considered a superpower at one time at the dawn of the 20th century Britain possessed almost all of the traits of a superpower it had a large military and the most powerful navy in the world and with that Navy it could project power almost anywhere it had a vast network of colonies so vast that it was once said that the Sun never set on the British Empire it was highly influential in world affairs and had a strong economy based on manufacturing and trade although Britain itself did not possess vast resources it was able to rely on its colonies to produce everything it needed its internal population was not particularly large but when combined with its colonies it had a significant population as well it had all the ear marks of a superpower but what about the United States what's the background story here the answer may surprise you throughout most of its history the United States was considered a minor relatively insignificant country it was far from Europe had a very small army and had little interest in becoming a major power aside from the the Western Hemisphere the United States largely ignored the rest of the world that began to change in 1898 as a result of the Spanish American war almost everyone expected Spain would win and win easily after all it was militarily much larger yet the Americans swiftly defeated the Spanish at Sea and on land not only did the United States soundly defeat a major European power it had done so in a mere 6 weeks what was even more impressive was that the United States had been able to capture Spanish Terr teritory far from its Shores by the end of the war America controlled several territories in the Caribbean it had also wrestled control of the Philippines Islands far from America's Shores with the Philippines America now had a foothold in Asia a base from which it could trade throughout the region it also annexed the Hawaiian Islands allowing it to control part of the Central Pacific Ocean to everyone's surprise the United States had built a small Empire for itself Europe began to realize that the United States had the potential to become a world power power its vast resources and Manufacturing capabilities had long been known but in its war with Spain the United States had shown an unexpected military capability not only could it raise an army very quickly from less than 30,000 soldiers to 220,000 in a matter of months it could fight far beyond its territorial Waters it was the perfect opportunity for the United States to establish itself as a rising power yet within a few years the United States lost interest in the rest of the world and retrieved treed into isolationism it slashed the size of its military and refused to involve itself in European politics it remained that way until 197 when it entered the first world war much like the Spanish American War the United States entered the first world war with a small military in fact the Army was smaller than 13 of the states that were already active in the war it had a standing army of less than 13,000 soldiers in 1917 a year later it had 4 million men underarms half of them serving in Europe and again the United States showed that it could project Force far from home at its peak some 10,000 soldiers arrived in France each day for a time however it appeared that America wanted to become part of a wider World it even proposed the creation of an international body to resolve disputes through dialogue diplomacy and mediation it was the first institution of its kind in the modern era instead of returning to isolation the United States sought to bring the nations of the world together and participate in the global Community Beyond trade and military actions it was called the League of Nations more than 40 Nations signed on to the League of Nations immediately these included major Powers such as the United Kingdom and France lesser Powers such as Japan and the newly formed Soviet Union were also founding members they were joined by many other countries around the world including Brazil China South Africa and others at its peak the League of Nations had more than 60 members with representatives from every region of the world yet the country that proposed the idea of the League of Nations the United States did not join there was simply not enough political support to become a member of the International Community American politicians sought to retreat from world affairs and return to a policy of isolationism and so they did when the second world war broke out in 1939 the United States sought to avoid becoming a direct participant in the conflict it was willing to go to Great length to ensure that the Allies were provided with weapons and resources but nothing more that changed on December 7th 1941 when Japan launched a massive surprise attack on America's largest military base in the Pacific Pearl Harbor Hawaii Japan had been a country on the rise for several decades and had great Ambitions to become a powerful nation that wielded great power and influence Japan believed that the time had come to drive Western influence out of East Asia and liberate its asian brothers from European and American exploitation and once liberated it was Japan's responsib ability to protect them it sounded like a noble cause but it sought to free Asia through exploitation they understood that to build an Empire Japan needed to build a strong economy and a powerful military but lack the natural resources needed to expel the West it believed that the only way that it could achieve its goals was to seize those Resources by force it soon found itself at odds with the United States which objected to Japanese expansionism Japan was not overly concerned with the United States it saw them as a weak enemy who whose people lacked the political will to fight a war it believed that a single strike on the American Navy would end the war with a single blow not everyone agreed that the United States was a weak country or that its people would avoid war at all costs one of Japan's greatest military leaders Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto knew the potential of the United States he had spent a considerable amount of time in America he understood the vastness of America's resources its industrial capabilities and a strong sense of determination among its people Yamamoto saw the United States as a sleeping giant that once awakened would prove to be a dangerous enemy and he was right the United States did not back down after the destruction of its Fleet at PE Harbor Japan had woken the Giant and that spelled Doom for Japan and its German Ally the United States had long been an industrial Powerhouse although many American factories closed through the Great Depression they were quickly reopened and retooled to produce War materials new factories were built increasing the amount of of goods the United States could produce with its vast natural resources the United States had the necessary materials to supply its factories it mobilized its population which had grown to 150 million people to work in its factories and serve in the military in 1941 the US military had 1.4 million men underarms by 1945 the size of the American Military had grown to 12 million the Army itself had increased from 1.4 million soldiers to well over 8 million in just 4 years it also developed a secret weapon one that would change the course of world history the atomic bomb yes the sleeping giant was fully awake and would never sleep again the United States emerged from the second world war as the most powerful nation in the world a title that it still holds today as a result of the second world war the United States went from being a beist actor on the world stage to the biggest superstar ever known how exactly did this happen and why was the Second World War the catalyst for super stardom let's explore the war had devastated Europe hardly a major city survived unscathed cities such as London and Berlin were barely left standing as a result of almost continuous bombing raids during the war the German bombers destroyed an estimated 70,000 buildings in London another 1.7 million buildings were damaged in Berlin an estimated 80% of the city center was destroyed between Allied bombing and the Soviet Union's assault an eventual capture of the city Dresden saw 90% of its City Center destroyed in a single night but that was not the worst the German city of ulich was completely leveled 100% of its buildings were destroyed between bombing raids and fighting for control of the city during the war Japan Too Faced widespread Devastation for much of the war the Japanese home Islands were safely Out Of Reach of American bombers that changed in June 1944 when the United States introduced the b29 super Fortress a new bomber that could reach Japan from great distances the United States repeatedly attacked Japanese cities with firebombs setting whole cities of fire on the night of March 9th 1945 the United States sent hundreds of bombers to attack the Japanese capital of Tokyo with incendiary bombs approximately 270,000 buildings 25% of the city were destroyed in this single attack the fires killed an estimated 100,000 Japanese with another million left homeless the war ended when the United States attacked the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a new secret weapon the atomic bomb the attack on Hiroshima either damaged or destroyed nearly 70% of the city's infrastructure in Nagasaki nearly 40% of the buildings were destroyed or damaged when the war finally ended the United States found that it was stronger than it was when it entered the war and there are reasons for that America was protected by thousands of miles of ocean on each side and simply could not be attacked in any meaningful way its cities factories and infrastructure remained untouched not only that but America's industrial production doubled during the war its GDP grew by $47 billion and the unemployment rate dropped to 1.2% America still emerged from the war as a wealthy country with tremendous industrial capabilities it was also more technically advanced than any other country and had the strongest military in the world it was the only country to possess the most devastating weapon known to mankind the atomic bomb by the end of the second world war the United States had all the Hallmarks of a superpower except for one a willingness to participate in global Affairs in the past American politicians had no interest no Ambitions to become a leading Nation it had shown this mentality after the first world war when it chose to turn its back on the League of Nations and withdrew from European Affairs but this time would be different the United States would embrace the rest of the world it did so in many different ways the United States committed itself to rebuilding Europe specifically Western Europe through the Marshall Plan the United States provided Western Europe with significant financial support and made available the necessary materials for countries to rebuild their cities infrastructure and Manufacturing capabilities it also helped rebuild Japan and created new political institutions that favored the United States it later began to provide foreign aid to other countries around the world to Curry favor among less developed countries the United States also helped to establish and actively participate in new international institutions such as the United Nations the international monetary fund and the World Bank all of whom had headquarters in the United States it filled political and economic voids in many parts of the world as a result of the demise of the British French and Japanese Empires it Formed military alliances such as NATO and positioned itself to become the protector of the Free World the United States was not the only country that became a superpower From the Ashes of the second world war it was joined by the Soviet Union which would eventually become America's biggest enemy the Soviet Union had suffered greatly during the second world war especially in the early years of the conflict but gained strength as the war progressed by 1945 it was determined to control all of the territory it had captured from Germany it had twice been devastated by Germany and was forced to exit the first world war before the conflict ended after the second world war Russia was determined to create a buffer zone between itself and potential future adversaries the countries of Eastern Europe would serve as that buffer zone to ensure their loyalty the Soviets installed communist puppet States Europe became divided into two camps countries that favored the united states and countries that favored the Soviet Union this ultimately led to a cold war in which most of the world would become polarized between the two countries this changed in the early 1990s when the Soviet Union collapsed the reborn Russian Federation was still a superpower but much weaker than it had been it soon regained its strength and Russia began to challenge the United States as a new Cold War started to emerge Russia proved to be a paper tiger however when it invaded Ukraine in February 2022 the global Community believed the conflict would last only a few weeks nobody ever expected Ukraine to fight back in any meaningful War but it did after Ukraine beat back the initial Russian Advance the Western Powers began to slowly arm Ukraine with with modern Weaponry Western Arms changed the tide of the war Russian equipment proved to be significantly inferior to American British and French weaponry and today the Russian army is on the defensive Russia's status as a superpower has been questioned as a result of its failure on the battlefield and the fact that world opinion has turned against it Russia has very little influence in world affairs and its economy is in tatters it no longer meets the key qualifications of a superpower if Russia is no longer a superpower could the United States eventually lose its superpower status too it's possible but not anytime soon America still possesses all of the traits of a superpower but some areas are starting to weaken the United States has amassed a staggering amount of debt in recent decades and it faces a serious trade deficit that increases every year just last year alone the trade deficit increased by more than 10% and there are no signs that the situation will improve in the next few years political divisions are widening and the ability to comp romise is becoming more difficult even election results have been called into question but not All Is Lost America Remains the most powerful nation in the world it has a modern and powerful military that is second to none its economy Remains the largest in the world and there is no evidence that its influence on world affairs is in Decline problems can be fixed and the United States will remain a superpower for the foreseeable future but will it be the only superpower China may be on the verge of becoming a superpower it possesses many of the qualities of of a superpower it has the second largest economy in the world it has the largest army in the world and it's rapidly modernizing its military China has the third largest nuclear stockpile and is actively expanding its Arsenal China has a strong and Unified Government and its influence outside of Asia is growing it has the largest population in the world and possesses advanced technology yet China is facing some headwinds in its attempt to become a superpower its economy may not be as strong as it appears and its Navy still needs to build more ships that can operate far from its Shores yes China has the potential to become a superpower but that might not be as soon as people think what do you think will China become a superpower can it challenge the United States on the world stage let us know what you think in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe for more military content and Analysis
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