Fulltext search in archive

The article is focusing on challenges connected with execution of the Czech Army military operations in tropical rainforest under umbrella of international organization. The military engagements in the tropical climate depends on unit general characterization and necessary unit competency insufficiently specified in the Czech Army Catalogue of Capabilities. The Czech Army Catalogue of Capabilities standardizes training methods, training cost, and required training area and required training equipment and material. Based on experience gained from the training of the Czech military personnel in Jungle Training Centre in French Guyana, we can assess that to attain required skills for jungle operational environment acquires a few weeks. The international organizations are capable to provide necessary training for jungle operational environment in order to reach required level of skills and competencies before operation execution.

The main goal of this article is to discuss in the context of selected security intentions the world peace as an idealistic phenomenon, which is determined by many factors in the current dynamically changing environment. The intention is not to compare individual philosophical theories, but to provide selected synthetic security indicators that can help measure the state of the security environment. On the basis of these arguments, we can observe a downward trend in the rate represented, also linked to an increase in the activities of terrorist groups and generally transnational threats. The article also highlights the current relatively rigid role of the UN in relation to global peace. The international community and world peace are particularly influenced by the mutual relations and the rivalry of the superpowers. In future conflicts, the transition from the physical form of the battlefield to the imaginary platform, represented mainly by cyber space, will be more evident.

The article is based on a study carried out as part of the Long-Term Organizational Development Plan project by the Center for Security and Military-Strategic Studies of the University of Defense entitled "Armed Conflict". As part of the study, the issue of strategic surprise was analyzed and assessed, the aim of which was to find causal mechanisms and connections between the security of state defense and the phenomenon of surprise in the conditions of the 21st century. The article deals with the issue of surprise and its impact on state defense security. It describes strategic surprise as a principled aspect with implications and impacts on state defense. It examines the issue of surprise as a principle of military art in the context of contemporary strategic thinking.

Cognitive warfare is a new phenomenon that differs from any forms of action previously used in the information space aiming to affect the thinking of target groups. The main difference consists in the targeted and sophisticated use of scientific knowledge from neuroscience, with special attention on consciousness and perception of reality. This deeper understanding of how the human mind works has impacted distributed narratives and the choice of the most suitable technological platforms for their distribution to the target audience. This article presents a conceptual classification of cognitive warfare and defines its three core segments: neuroscience, technology and aspects of social science.

The text is dedicated to the analysis of the legal regulation of military wills in the new Civil Code (Law No. 89/2012 Coll.). It places it in a historical legal context. However, priority attention is paid to a detailed analysis of the current legal regulation and potential issues that this regulation brings. It also briefly mentions other options for last dispositions that a soldier could use. The legal regulation of military wills in the Civil Code can be characterized as very well conceived, reflecting the reality of foreign missions. The fact that it takes the form of a public document is also significant if the relevant requirements are met. However, the question is how the application practice of the courts will approach the adjustment.

The Russia has presented the ongoing war in Ukraine by the term special military operation, whose goals were declared by Russian President Putin in terms of demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. In the wider context, there is an imperial effort of Russia to enforce its power and influence in the region by an offensive and aggressive war. The authors define the fundamental difference between a special operation and the so-called special military operation in the context of contemporary interpretation of the Kremlin. They further argue the way in which Russia is trying to justify the war and discuss its reality in terms of international law.

The article addresses the issue of the emergence of new technologies and their impact on the capabilities of the Czech Armed Forces (CAF). A summary of the recommendations is presented. In particular, there is a need for a conceptual approach to the integration of new systems in order to avoid spontaneous purchasing, which could be very logistically demanding. The very rapid development in the field of unmanned autonomous systems using elements of artificial intelligence offers opportunities to use them in support of the tasks of CAF. Due to the breadth of this issue, the scope is limited to the area of the Special Forces, which introduce these new sophisticated means into use throughout the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic.

The article concerns the issue of arson attacks in Israel.The issue of terrorism in Israel is quite broad, given that it is a very common phenomenon here and Israel deals with terrorism on a daily basis. The paper therefore focuses on incendiary balloons, a weapon that repeatedly caused fires around the Gaza Strip between 2018-2023. It examines their history, their design, outlines the possibilities of their elimination, the advantages and disadvantages of possible technical solutions, and a reflection on the future of their usage.

This article deals with one of the most explosive areas of the world today, which is the Near and Middle East (NMEA) and especially the territory of historical Palestine, where the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (IPC) has been going on for a long time. The text deals primarily with historical and military factors and is written as a historical explanatory analysis. It focuses on the most significant historical events and explains the ways of functioning and the consequences of the processes that have been taking place there for a long time.

The aim of this paper is to contribute to scientific research in the field of examining the shortcomings in the use of strategic communication for armaments. A comprehensive approach that rationalises the political, military, economic and technical decision-making process, as well as appropriate strategic communication with stakeholders, is required for the procurement of military equipment for the armed forces. The paper first analyses the existing shortcomings in the use of strategic communication in support of armaments, and then recommends a model for the adequate use of it. The results of a questionnaire survey and structured interviews with specialists in strategic communication and armaments show a high level of support for the use of strategic communication. However, the selected case studies on the Pandur and BVP modernization projects did not confirm the assumption of an improvement in the ability of the Czech Ministry of Defence to acquire new military equipment.

The civil war in Myanmar has been going on for more than seven decades. After the military coup in February 2021, it has undergone significant structural changes and gained new momentum. The causes of the conflict lie in the inability of different ethnic and political groups to find a way to coexist within a single state entity and the autonomisation of the military. The main actors in the war in Myanmar today are the military junta and its supporters, the democratic opposition and ethnic organisations. After the coup, the strength of the resistance movement and its operational capabilities are growing. However, this growth has its limits, given the continued disunity of opposition forces, the technical superiority of the Myanmar army and the strengthening of its numbers through compulsory conscription.

Military spending is a widely discussed topic, especially in the current geopolitical landscape. Expenditures on "equipment" play a pivotal role in total defense spending.. However, the nature of the equipment expenditures is cumulative. Thus, when trying to estimate the capability of a state we should consider a longer period, not just one year. The aim of this article is, therefore, to offer (i) an exploratory analysis of the cumulative equipment expenditures of NATO countries between 2014-2023 and (ii) to verify - by using OLS multivariate regression - the extent to which the GDP per capita primarily drives these expenditures (adjusted per soldier), the share of defense spending from the GDP, or by the fraction of defense spending that goes specifically to equipment. The results show that the GDP per capita is by far the most powerful predictor.

The article presents more than ten years of experience in testing the abilities of pilots during flight control on flight simulators. A hypothesis is stated about the possibilities of finding common features in flight control, the basic mathematical apparatus for evaluation is presented, the flight simulators used and, of course, the achieved results are presented. 110 pilots have already been tested and a total of 2360 missions - test flights - have been simulated. Subsequent mathematical analysis provided approximately 40,000 results suitable for further statistical processing. This amount of data obtained from realistically simulated flights provides a prerequisite for defining applicable conclusions to the proposed mortgages. For the needs of subsequent certification, a proposal for the pile measurement methodology was also prepared, which summarizes both the theoretical approach to pile testing and the procedure for carrying out tests on individual simulators. Part of the proposed methodology includes an overview of the software created to facilitate the recording of data from individual missions, as well as software for own analysis of the measured data from the missions.

The measures adopted on the soil of the North Atlantic Alliance to support the integration of gender perspective are discussed in the article, as well as the way in which these were subsequently reflected in the legislative measures of the Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic and examines the approach of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred to as "OS SR" ) to the integration of gender perspective. The article further focuses on how the OS SR integrate and support these principles in the real life of professional soldiers. The analysis of available statistical data as well as of research previously conducted in this area serves as a basis for formulating conclusions on whether the Slovak Republic fulfills its obligations regarding the integration of gender perspective towards the North Atlantic Alliance, and at the same time formulates starting points for possible future research.

The Security System of the Czech Republic has gradually profiled since 1998 to the shape as it is generally defined and described in the final part of the Security Strategy of the Czech Republic (2015). The article is contemplation over some possibilities to further improvement of the system in terms of the current state and challenges arising from developments in the security environment and in terms of options, how to adequately respond to them.

The paper deals with the process of constructing temporary bridges after the devastating floods that hit Slovenia at the beginning of August. The Czech Republic has decided to donate three TMS (heavy bridge set) bridges to the Republic of Slovenia as part of humanitarian aid. The article describes the process from the dispatch of a reconnaissance team, through the evaluation of the reconnaissance, to the construction itself. The paper is based on the experiences and observations of the author, who took part in all the processes as a direct participant.

The article deals with the evaluation of current possibilities of medical support capabilities in the area of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defence. The evaluation of national strategic documents shows that the area of providing care in the event of chemical and biological hazards is significantly more developed than in the area of radiation, while the security threats associated with radiation are constantly growing. Analysis of NATO standardization documents in the field of medical support and relevant Czech doctrinal documents was carried out, based on which the diagnostics and triage of irradiated persons, called biological dosimetry, was identified as a potential capability. Using the capability planning methodology and based on the evaluation of the functional areas, a conceptual approach to the development of biological dosimetry capabilities was defined. The presented recommendations also include a proposal for the organizational structure of the Czech Armed Forces biodosimetric network.

The guarantee of national defense and the fulfillment of commitments to Allies is highly dependent on its financial source security. The economic recession, which began in 2008 in the USA, negatively affected public budgets. This recession was one of the causes of the reduction of planned defense spendings in the Czech Republic. This reduction caused the postponement of acquisitions, which were to be implemented both with regard to commitments to coalition partners and with regard to maintaining their own defense capabilities. Nowadays, current internal debt is still increasing due to neglecting inflation of military equipment, which is higher than inflation of ordinary goods. Currently, the defense ability is also affected by the pandemic of Covid-19, which caused a slowdown in GDP growth and public spending growth. For this reason, it has been several times postponed the commitment to achieve a rate of 2% of military expenditure of GDP by 2024 and the current plan to achieve it in 2027 is also endangered.

This study presents the perspective of Czechoslovak diplomacy on the events of the Yom Kippur War (1973) in the context Czechoslovak foreign policy towards the Arab-Israeli conflict in early 1970s. The research is based on so far rather underexplored archival sources. Despite Czechoslovakia's declared unequivocal support for the Arab side of the conflict, Czechoslovak Middle Eastern policy since the mid-1950s was not entirely unconditional in relation to the Arab countries. Internal documents of Czechoslovak government occasionally revealed criticisms of Arab representatives. The Yom Kippur War represented a significant moment in this regard, as it was a military confrontation initiated not by Israel but by the Arab coalition, posing a challenge for Czechoslovak propaganda. Simultaneously, this armed conflict presented an opportunity for Communist Czechoslovakia to further deepen its relations with its Arab allies.

The article brings a comparison of the approaches to the strategic defence analysis (SDA) and developing future Defence Concepts (DFDC) of the Czech Republic and Norway. The countries are in a different geopolitical situation, NOR being a country with borders that are part of the outer border of the Alliance, the Czech Republic being a country surrounded by three member countries of the Alliance and one PfP country. On the basis of the comparison of the two approaches, the authors identified differences and common points of the two. Based on the findings, the discussion provides inspiration for possible enhancements in the approach of the Czech Republic to SDA to ensure the future defence of the country. All that in context of current Security developments in Europe, that have an impact on how NATO member countries might deal with Article 3 and Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.

Grey Rhino is a metaphor for security threat, which is unkept irrational for large extent also high probability of harmful effect on a subject of risk owner. Business continuity management system is assessed in a diagram as controlling instrument aimed at operational hazard mitigation of continuity disturbance of affected subject. A ´from Operations´ Value Added - O´VA is established as qualitative dynamic information about productivity of activities. The measures are designed in crisis scenario for quality improvement of subject´s crisis readiness. An indicator of business risk continuity slip is defined. In a connection with war conflict on Ukraine is assessed if it is Grey Rhino manifestation.

Voices about the need to build a joint European Union army have been appearing on the European scene for several years, but recently these voices have become stronger, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, in the article, the authors deal with the issue of the possibility of creating a common European army. They draw on from socio-scientific political science approaches to current security frameworks, examine the current state, and at the same time point out that, despite the threats Europe is facing, there is still no clear plan for how such an army should be created. Considering the facts mentioned in the article, the authors state that the creation of a common European army, at least for now, seems unlikely, as a supranational model of the European army would require the transfer of sensitive national competences from the member states to the EU level.

The annual examination is an integral part of the physical training system of a soldier of the Army of the Czech Republic, which assesses his physical fitness. This assessment provides dual feedback - it informs examinees of how they are performing against normative tables and each other, and at the same time, gives commanders an idea of the current physical fitness of their subordinates. This thesis focuses on the endurance event of the 12-minute run (also known as the Cooper test). Based on data from 2011 to 2021 and nearly 50,000 evaluated tests, the potential effects of age on soldiers' physical performance and appropriate adjustments to individual age limits were examined. The analysis showed that the difficulty setting for achieving the same rating differs for both genders and that there is a different decline in physical performance with increasing age than reflected in current norms. Based on these analyses, a proposal for modifications to the annual physical training test was developed and is appended to this paper.

Based on the content analysis method, this study analyzes the first ever published security strategy of the Israel Defense Forces, which was published in 2015. The main objective of the paper is not only to present the circumstances of its creation and discuss the main objectives of this strategic security document, but also to outline the broader geopolitical context from which it emerged. The authors argue that the document primarily emphasized two areas - the use of force and capacity building of the Israeli military. Among other things, the publication of the strategy was intended to have a deterrent effect. In the conclusion, the authors compare the Gideon Plan and its follow-up, the Tnufa Plan, and point to the considerable importance that consensus among political and military elites has in the implementation of such a document and reflect on what lessons and inspiration can be drawn from this case in our geographic space in the process of formulating or reformulating strategic security documents.

The article thematically completes a series of articles which subject was to present outcomes of analyses focused on national as well as NATO and EU capability planning processes. Synthesis of analysis outcomes resulted in conceiving a methodologic framework for military capability assessment, whereas the first phase of this framework, i.e. configuration of the national capability requirements database, has been already described in the previous edition of the Czech Military Review. So this article details final phases of the proposed methodological framework, which are set of reference units and mechanism for matching capability requirements against current state capabilities. The key outcome of capability matching phase is identification of capability shortfalls and their subsequent prioritisation. The level of priority is expressed as a degree of operational risk and relates to an expected intensity of operational engagement of force units in military operations. This approach stems from the principle of the capability assessment process which shall be carried out by military experts and which deals exclusively with an expected military end-state in operations.

The goal of this informative article is to comprehensively describe the causes of the formation and integration of cyber forces and information operations into the structure of the Army of the Czech Republic, including other significant connotations. The intention is not to present new scientific findings, but to point out the meaning of the existence of cybernetics and information operations as a necessary separate component of the Army of the Czech Republic capable of responding to the dynamic development of the security environment and the continuous development of modern technologies. The content and main arguments of this article reflect the transition from the classical form of warfare to the new platform, represented mainly by cyber space and a hybrid combination of a wide range of power tools with an emphasis on information operations.

In May 2017, Islamists of the South-Philippine Separate Groups of Abu Sajyaf and Maute occupied Marawi City in Mindanao. Five-month fighting was attended by more than 3,000 armed forces against about 1,000 jihadists. Dozens of foreign fighters took part in the fighting on the Islamists side and confirming the pan-Islamic ethos of the Islamic state's ideology in this part of the world. Philippine troops were not prepared for the character of fighting in urbanized environment against motivated and experienced militants. The shortcomings were manifested in the conducting of operations in a heavily built-up area, but also in low-level coordination and limits of capabilities of the technical intelligence. It was decided to create Special Operations Command to which all Philippine special purpose forces are subordinated. The conflict experience has initiated a change of doctrinal approach that focuses on air support to reduce losses due to inaccurate bombing and acquisitions of high-tech reconnaissance and weapon systems.

The article focuses on information and psychological operations as a challenge for the security and defence establishments of NATO member states. A conceptualisation of the terms 'information operations' and 'psychological operations' is discussed in the contexts of reshaping the war-and-peace dichotomy, and of resilience and deterrence. It is suggested that these terms suffer from a normative approach to the paradigm of war and peace, and to the use of non-military means. This may lead to the greater vulnerability of security and defence systems in confrontation with an adversary. Also, special attention is paid to the vulnerabilities of security and armed forces, being overlooked in concepts of resilience.

The article addresses the current state of registration and evaluation of physical training of soldiers of the Army of the Czech Republic. It includes analytical and design part. The analytical part discusses the pros and cons of current evidence of physical training data and identifies the main shortcomings and problems. The article proposes the optimization of the current state through an advanced information system that would cover the current needs of physical education workers and for this purpose is currently created in the environment of the University of Defense in Brno. The article outlines the possible practical use of the information system in military practice.

The authors offer the research outcome focusing on the assessment of risk management practices applied in the Armed Forces development planning process. Based on analytical outcomes, contemporary theory and best practices authors outline comprehensive approach to risk management within the Armed Forces development planning process. The purpose of the article is to enhance effectiveness of existing managerial process and elevate risk management from rather administrative exercise to effective management tool in the time of growing level of uncertainty. As the most suitable instrument, the Risk Management Plan is developed including the necessary implementation measures within the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic.