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RUSI Defence Systems
Concise briefings on strategic, conceptual and acquisition issues faced by the global defence community, designed for analysts and practitioners
January 2019, Vol: 21 No: 1
Future Vertical Lift… Why the Eagles Aren’t Coming
RUSI Defence Systems, 4 September 2019, No: 1Jack Watling
The US Army’s Future Vertical Lift programme is premised on an obsolete concept of employment. The helicopter will continue to be a critical tool in warfare, but like the horse in the Second World War, its place on the modern battlefield is as a beast of burden
Tags: Military Sciences, Martial Power Programme, Land Forces
First Flight of Russia’s S-70 Okhotnik-B UCAV
RUSI Defence Systems, 9 August 2019, No: 1Justin Bronk
Russia’s first UCAV prototype marks a milestone for the country’s troubled efforts to field truly modern airpower capabilities, and should also be a wakeup call to NATO Allies still publicly opposed to or unconvinced by the need for Western UCAVs to be part of future capability plans
Tags: Air Power and Technology, Military Sciences, Martial Power Programme
Novel Concepts for Amphibious Force Resupply
RUSI Defence Systems, 28 June 2019, No: 1George Galdorisi
The United States continues to place a premium on amphibious forces as part of its global response capabilities. Unmanned surface vessels have recently been tested which offer a significant advance in the ability of amphibious forces to conduct important ship-shore resupply from standoff distances
Tags: Equipment and Acquisitions, Maritime Forces
The Myth of the Narrative Fighting Vehicle
RUSI Defence Systems, 30 May 2019, No: 1Jack Watling and Adam Maisel
Adversaries currently outmatch the British Army in information warfare. While it is encouraging that officers with a background in combat arms are calling for the development of this capability however, it is important not to expect too much.
Tags: Military Sciences, Information, Martial Power Programme
Complexity is Cheaper than Simplicity: The Reason Cyber Security is Hard
RUSI Defence Systems, 23 April 2019, No: 1Kristofor Bolton
In most industries simplicity is cheaper than complexity; streamlining processes and shedding excess reduces the cost of doing business. Within the technology sector, there is a trend to accomplish the same goal by doing the opposite. This increased complexity has a negative effect on security
Tags: Cyber, Future UK Cyber Security Strategy Project
Allies in the Multi-Domain Task Force
RUSI Defence Systems, 5 April 2019, No: 1Jack Watling
The scale and highly integrated nature of the US’s Multi-Domain Operations concept for future warfare requires coordination, mutual understanding of capabilities and permissions sharing between armed services. These exceed what NATO allies can currently achieve
Tags: US Defence Policy, NATO, Military Sciences, Martial Power Programme
What Do Future Main Battle Tanks Need to Succeed? Ask the Operators
RUSI Defence Systems, 25 March 2019, No: 1Micah Clark
As the US Army and British Army eye upgrades to their respective main battle tanks, the often-overlooked operator’s perspective calls for the focus to fall on maintainability in the field over incremental upgrades to firepower and survivability
Tags: United States, Land Forces
Amphibious Assault is Over
RUSI Defence Systems, 21 January 2019, No: 1Sidharth Kaushal and Jack Watling
The conduct of amphibious operations is currently undergoing a drastic overhaul in response to an array of emerging threats
Tags: Equipment and Acquisitions, Military Sciences, Martial Power Programme, Maritime Forces
What Does the Future of Land Fires Look Like?
RUSI Defence Systems, 20 November 2018, No: 1Adam Coffey
The Royal Artillery’s ability to fight peer and near-peer threats has stagnated after two decades in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Modernising Defence Programme now offers the Royal Artillery a chance to consider the future of fires.
Tags: Military Sciences, Land Forces
Australia’s Aegis Destroyer Will Improve its Defensive Capabilities
RUSI Defence Systems, 13 August 2018, No: 1Debalina Ghoshal
The Royal Australian Navy is leveraging the latest Aegis combat system, SM-6 interceptor missiles and its new Hobart-class destroyers to limit its vulnerability to proliferating ballistic and cruise missile threats in the Indo-Pacific region. This has implications for interoperability with allies and deterrence.
Tags: Maritime Forces, Pacific
Enter the Tempest
RUSI Defence Systems, 16 July 2018, No: 1Justin Bronk
The new £2 billion Tempest programme aims to both keep the UK in the combat aircraft business and secure for it a place in the next major European fighter project. Initial mock-ups unveiled with the announcement give some clues about design priorities, but funding the project long term may be challenging
Tags: Aerospace, Air Power and Technology, Military Sciences, Martial Power Programme
A Fourth F-35 Variant?
RUSI Defence Systems, 15 June 2018, No: 1Andrew Hartland
With an inherently high thrust-to-weight ratio and modified digital flight control system, an F-35 variant could operate off the Queen Elizabeth class carriers with fewer penalties to the baseline F-35A design than the current F-35B and hence fewer performance trade-offs
Tags: Aerospace, Air Power and Technology
Counter-UAS – a ‘Wicked’ Problem?
RUSI Defence Systems, 6 June 2018, No: 1Adam Coffey
Finding, striking, jamming, blocking, sustaining, and generally being disruptive, are all now realistic outputs from UAS. Given these multiple potential and proven uses for UAS even by non-state actors, the military conversation has very much moved on to how to counter them.
Tags: Military Sciences, Technology
The European Fighter Cooperation Question: How Many UK F-35s?
RUSI Defence Systems, 18 May 2018, No: 1Justin Bronk
The ongoing Combat Air Strategy under development within the Ministry of Defence faces a difficult choice, with significant capability, industrial and geopolitical cost trade-offs involved. The F-35 is at the centre of this dilemma.
Tags: Aerospace, Air Power and Technology, Military Sciences, UK, Martial Power Programme
UK Basing Posture Renews Naval Capability
RUSI Defence Systems, 7 March 2018, No: 1James Shinnie
With new UK facilities opening in Oman and Bahrain, an examination of these future bases offers helpful insights into the shape of UK strategic international engagements post-Brexit.
Tags: The Gulf Region, Maritime ForcesPages
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