IN FOCUS

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Russia beefs up its military

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia's military to increase its focus on the Arctic and finalise plans by the end of the year to upgrade its military bases in the region. The U.S., Denmark and Norway are also pressing for control over massive untapped oil and natural gas reserves. Russia arrested 30 people on board a Greenpeace ship during a September protest against Russian offshore Arctic drilling. Putin said earlier this week that Russia's military presence in the Arctic was needed to protect against potential threats from the U.S. Russia expects to see oil output decline in Siberian oilfields in coming years...

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EADS to cut 5,800 jobs
European aerospace giant EADS on December 9th announced plans to cut 5,800 jobs in its defence and space division over three years. The job cuts, part of a major restructuring due to falling orders, will affect the group’s workforce in Germany, France, Spain and Britain, according to the Financial Times. EADS chief executive Tom Enders said: “We need to improve our competitiveness in defence and space — and we need to do it now. With our traditional markets down, we urgently need to improve access to international customers, to growth markets...

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First cyber soldiers
Fifteen soldiers were awarded the newest U.S. Army military occupational specialty, cyber network defender, during a graduation ceremony on November 27th, held at Fort Gordon. The soldiers completed a 14-week course on cyber warfare, writes Defence Talk. “Cyberspace is composed of hundreds of thousands interconnecting computers, servers, routers, switches, fiber optic cables which allow our critical infrastructure to work,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Ronald S. Pflieger, regimental sergeant major for the U.S. Army Signal Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon...

RUSSIA'S DEFENCE RADARS

Russia has begun testing new radars designed to detect highly maneuverable aerial targets at a range of up to 3,000 kilometers, allowing it to cover most of Europe. The new-generation over-the-horizon radar, dubbed Container, was put on trial duty near the town of Kovylkino in Russia’s Republic of Mordovia on December 2. According to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the radar will allow Russia to expand its monitoring range and control over the situation
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THIS DEFENCE SUMMIT IS A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY THAT MUSTN'T GO TO WASTE
Op-ed by Mario Mauro, Italy’s Defence Minister The last decade has been marked by some important developments in the global security environment. Western armed forces and the Euro-Atlantic security institutions in general, have been deeply involved in the politically controversial “twin-conflicts” in Iraq and Afghanistan. The rapid growth of non-Western economies has ushered in a geo-economic revolution with strategic read more

FRANCE IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

France has put boots on the ground in the Central African Republic (CAR), where at least 300 people were killed in sectarian conflict last week, but French President Francois Hollande insists this operation will not cost France much. More French troops poured into the CAR on Saturday after Hollande announced he was boosting an UN-mandated French force to 1,600 soldiers. The president, speaking in a television interview, said France’s military intervention this year in Mali

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SDA new Advisory Board members


Alexander Vershbow Deputy Secretary General NATO				Pierre Vimont Executive Secretary General European External Action Service


Brig. Gen. Ilkka Laitinen Executive Director FRONTEX				Ioan Mircea Pascu Vice Chairman Committee on Foreign Affairs European Parliament

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SDA speakers

The Security & Defence Agenda regularly welcomes high level speakers from the international and national sphere of politics, the military, private sector, civil society, and academia to discuss the issues that shape global security and defence.