Articles by Christian D. Villanueva López

The war in Ukraine is leaving us with shocking images and incredible figures, many of them related in one way or another to the emergence of drones on the battlefield. Its massive use, given its ridiculous cost and its very high lethality, has completely disrupted the calculations of costs and benefits, putting the advantage of the spear side over the shield at the tactical level and causing paralysis at the operational and strategic levels. Although these are changes of enormous magnitude, they do not imply - as some authors claim - neither a change in the nature of war, nor a Military Revolution comparable to the one that once brought about the arrival of gunpowder in Europe. In fact, that of drones is one more of the Revolutions in Military Affairs associated - here it is correct to use this term - to which [Keep reading…]

For decades, military developments have in most cases been far ahead of their civilian counterparts. There are many examples of technologies that emerged at the risk of war that later, adapted to civilian uses, have led to enormous advances and revolutionized the lives of ordinary people. However, there are many fewer occasions in which the opposite has occurred. For a few years now, however, there has been an interesting change in this situation, motivated by massive investment in civil R&D as a tool to maintain competitiveness, which is leading to many everyday products and solutions being subsequently adapted for use. military use; a real revolution. The Spanish defense industry, in need of funds to pay for new research and development programs, has been looking for a lifeline in dual technologies and an opportunity to access financing, both [Keep reading…]

The sending of battle tanks to Ukraine (Leopard 2, Abrams and Challenger) is an unequivocal example of Western commitment to this country. Once the Russian bet has been accepted to transform what should have been a quick operation into a war of attrition, upon arrival they will allow the formation of at least three new armored battalions, with material on paper superior in many cases to its Russian counterpart. However, given the enormous logistical, training and integration problems that sending battle tanks to Ukraine entails, the decision could contribute much more from a political-strategic point of view than from an operational and tactical point of view. (Continue…) Dear reader, this article is exclusively for paying users. If you want to access the full text, you can subscribe to Ejercitos Magazine taking advantage of our offer for new subscribers through the following link.

The F-110 frigates have the difficult mission of replacing the F-80s, which have provided such good service, returning to the Navy part of the anti-submarine capabilities that we have neglected for decades. To do this, they use an anti-submarine suite provided by Thales and SAES that includes top-level equipment, on par with navies such as the US Navy or the French Marine Nationale. Thanks to this, they will constitute the core of a force that will be completed in the future with the capabilities provided by the S-80 submarines and future maritime patrol aircraft, manned or not. Although the next few years are far from promising, as there is a lot of work to be done – as much as there has been institutional neglect, the F-110 frigates constitute a great first step. In January 2013, the Military Capabilities Objective 2013-2016 was published, which included the [Keep reading…]