Category: Defence

Defence / Russia

 by Jaffa Levy

Russia’s Generals Declare the Tank Dead: Inside Moscow’s Vision of the Digital Battlefield

Russia’s senior military theorists now declare the age of the tank over. In a new doctrinal paper, General Yury Baluevsky and Ruslan Pukhov describe the Ukraine war as the first true “digital war,” dominated by drones, satellites, and computing power. They argue that dispersed micro-units, autonomous systems, and real-time networks will replace massed armour and artillery. Future supremacy, they warn, will belong to nations that control chips, data, and orbiting communications rather than steel.

Defence / China

 by Jaffa Levy

Fujian: The Carrier That Ends America’s Monopoly at Sea

China’s CV-18 Fujian has entered service as the world’s second electromagnetic-catapult carrier, ending decades of U.S. monopoly in carrier aviation.
It marks the moment China’s navy moved from coastal defence to blue-water power projection, fielding stealth fighters, early-warning aircraft, and an all-domestic strike group. The Fujian is more than a ship it is Beijing’s declaration that parity with the U.S. Navy has arrived.

History / Defence

 by Jaffa Levy

How Rome Bought Loyalty: Inside the Pay System of the Imperial Legions

Measured in silver, the Roman soldier seemed poorly paid. But once we map his lifetime income by social percentile, he emerges as one of the best-compensated professionals of antiquity. Rome’s army wasn’t just a military machine — it was the empire’s largest engine of social mobility, recycling half of all state spending into land, pensions, and loyalty.

World / Defence / Israel

 by Jaffa Levy

The Next War: Why Israel May Strike Iran Before Winter.

Israel faces a narrowing window for war with Iran as U.S. naval forces and refuelling tankers reposition across the Middle East. With the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group on station and regional skies soon to close with winter weather, pressure is building on Tel Aviv to decide whether to strike now or stand down until spring.

Defence / World

 by Jaffa Levy

The Contest for the “Sacred” Arctic

On a late summer day in Murmansk, the Russian nuclear icebreaker Arktika noses out of its berth, a slab of steel and reactors bound for the Northern Sea Route. Far to the east, Chinese...