military

the technology needed to spy and make military decisions from the sky

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) carries many benefits, but also many risks. Therefore, eliminating human supervision can be a very bad idea. It is a fairly recurring topic that has been put back on the table after China announced that it is testing the use of AI to advance its satellite-based surveillance systems. Many experts have expressed concern about the possibility of these systems being used for military purposes. Other countries, such as the United States and Israel, have set a worrying precedent, so there is some fear that these technologies could be misused and end up being lethal. The steps of China. China has long stressed the importance of AI always having human supervision. However, the announcement that have collected media such as Interesting Engineering follows a different premise. The Asian country intends for its satellite AI systems to be capable of breaking down complex tasks, coordinating workflows and recovering independently from possible failures. In short, they would use algorithms capable of analyzing information, making decisions and acting without the need for humans. Satellite observation can have many uses, from analyzing animal behavior to aiding weather forecasts. However, this emphasis on AI being able to act on its own is inevitably reminiscent of what we are already seeing in the United States for military purposes. The case of the United States. The US military is suspected of having several AI-based targeting systems, although there is a lot of classified information about them. Broadly speaking, these would use data obtained through optical cameras, infrared, radar, LIDAR and other sensors to locate military targets and subsequently shoot if deemed necessary. Last February, the attack on a school classified as erroneous opened the debate on this issue. In it 175 people diedmostly girls. As it was recognized as a misguided attack, suspicions grew that AI was behind it. As this is classified information, it cannot be known for sure, but it is a more than tangible risk. USA has hired currently to SpaceX to improve the connectivity of the shooters so that they receive the information as soon as possible whether to shoot or not. It is clear that they want to continue advancing in this aspect and it is something that, logically, is of great concern to experts. The case of Israel. It is not exactly the same, but Israel has also left war decisions in the hands of AI, with worrying results. For example, they have a system that uses data from phone calls, social networks, metadata, visual information or contacts, among other sources, to determine who may be targets. According to an investigation by +972 Magazinein the first weeks of the war against Palestine detected 37,000 targets as Hamas members. The army itself recognized that the algorithm has a 90% probability of being right. This gives us clues about how catastrophic it can be. More transparency? China has assured that it will have more transparency than other countries by introducing AI in the management of its satellites. However, this does not minimize the concerns of experts. For now, it seems that the algorithms have managed to avoid obstacles independently in the testing phase. For them to be able to shoot, if they are used for that purpose, there is still a long way to go. But it is viable. Therefore, it is urgent that measures be taken to regulate the use of AI without human supervision as much as possible. There are too many human beings with few scruples, but even those may have some more qualms than machines. An AI cannot show concern, conscience or ethics. He also does not ask before shooting if he is not told to do so. Therefore, if we want it to operate satellites capable of observing and controlling what we do on the planet, it would be advisable for us to ensure that someone with scruples remains in charge. Although in some contexts that is difficult to find. Image | Kevin Stadnyk (Unsplash)/Magnific In Xataka | There are planes dropping food into Gaza from the air. It is a worse idea than it seems to fight hunger

The most ambitious US military project in space has a new owner: SpaceX

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The United States Government has hired SpaceX to act as the backbone of its military telecommunications system. After several delays of an initial system, based on the participation of multiple companies and entities, it has now been decided to bet all data transport on Elon Musk’s request. Starshield satellites. Although the technical details have not been announced at the moment, this agreement between the Pentagon and SpaceX is possibly based mainly on the contracting of Starshield services, satellites with technology similar to that of Starlink, but adapted to military applications. The space company It already has hundreds of these satellites in low Earth orbit, some of them involved in actions such as attacks on Iran. A system made up of layers. The hiring of SpaceX, in which 2.29 billion dollars have been invested, is aimed at the development of the backbone. That is, the central layer of the data transport system used by the United States for military purposes. This system consists of more layers, in which more companies will intervene, which will be in charge, for example, of tracking. However, everything revolves around the axis constituted by Elon Musk’s satellites. The functions. With all these contracts, the United States intends to facilitate the tactical communications of the US Army thanks to access to broadband communication services worldwide. In addition, the aim is to work on the detection and tracking of missile launches and, in turn, connect sensors and shooters. In short, SpaceX must provide the backbone of a system composed of sensors that detect possible threats and a network that communicates these threats as quickly as possible to anti-missile systems and shooters so that they act accordingly. Other companies. While SpaceX will focus on data transportation and the cohesion of all actors involved in the United States military plan, other companies will be in charge of tracking. In recent years, the Space Development Agency hired for it to L3Harris Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Rocket Lab, all companies that have already begun developing satellites for this purpose. On the other hand, the last three, together with York Space Systems, they had been hired also for transportation purposes, similar to those that have finally been entrusted to SpaceX. At the moment it does not seem that the development of its own satellites has been cancelled, but the change in strategy, much more focused on SpaceX, is clear. Concerned legislators. Despite the intervention of other companies, legislators have expressed concern about the decision to put all the transportation and telecommunications eggs in Elon Musk’s basket. Given this situation, the spokesperson for the United States Space Force has assured who are already looking for a second contractor to build Space Data Network satellites. At the moment it is only SpaceX’s task, but they intend to increase competition. SpaceX’s duties. As they point out from Ars TechnicaElon Musk’s company is obliged to deliver a “prototype of fully operational capacity” for its telecommunications system before the end of 2027. With this, SpaceX diversifies its work, entering fully into the military field. Is this surprising? The truth is, not too much. Now all that remains is to see how it swims in these waters in which He had already made his first dives. Image | US Space Force photo by Gwendolyn Kurzen/Diego González (Unsplash) In Xataka | Once again, Ukraine has opened a missile launched by Russia. Once again, surprising manufacturers have been found

The greatest Japanese military taboo after the Second World War has just been blown up. China and North Korea are to blame

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In 1945, Japan emerged from World War II with a new Constitution that, in practice, prevented him have again offensive aircraft carrier. Eight decades later, one of its largest ships is once again preparing to operate fighter jets from the deck alongside the US Marines. Japan leaves its historical limits behind. Japan is entering a military phase that for decades avoided describing openly. He “Kaga”officially classified as a helicopter destroyer, will operate in June F-35B stealth fighters of the US Marine Corps in joint exercises that definitively bring the country closer to a light aircraft carrier capability. The gesture is much more important than it seems because it breaks a deeply rooted political and historical barrier since World War II: the idea that Japan should strictly limit its offensive capabilities. Tokyo continues to avoid the term “aircraft carrier,” but operational reality is beginning to look more and more like classic shipborne aviation. The Kaga and a return. The transformation of the “Kaga” and its twin “Izumo” It has been underway for years, but now it is entering the truly decisive phase: operate fighter aircraft fifth generation from deck in real conditions. The planned exercises with the US F-35B will include “cross-deck” maneuvers, where Marine aircraft take off and land from a Japanese ship. all this requires modifications depth in the deck, thermal resistance to withstand vertical landings and new coordinated procedures between pilots, sailors and technical personnel. Although Japan has placed the F-35Bs under the control of its Air Force and not the Navy, the practice brings the country enormously closer to having fully functional small aircraft carriers. A US Marine Corps F-35B lands aboard Kaga during training exercises in 2024 China and North Korea behind. The great driver of this transformation is the deterioration of the strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific. China multiply your pressure naval around Taiwan and the East China Sea as North Korea maintains a constant capacity of military destabilization. In this context, Tokyo needs to disperse its air capacity and reduce dependence on vulnerable ground bases. There the F-35B enters: a fighter capable of taking off over very short distances or landing vertically from relatively small decks. For Japan, this offers enormous flexibility in an archipelago full of islands and long sea distances. Each converted ship expands the number of platforms from which the country can project air power. USA as accelerator. The direct involvement of the US Marine Corps makes clear the extent to which Washington is acting as an accelerator of Japanese military transformation. The Marines already made the first historic landings on the “Izumo” in 2021 and since then they have accompanied practically all phases of the program. The “Kaga” even traveled to the United States for specific tests with F-35B and has already operated alongside British and American aircraft linked to the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales. More than simple maneuvers, these exercises serve to integrate allied doctrines, logistics and procedures in a possible regional crisis scenario. The Indo-Pacific is filling up. The change also reflects a broader trend: the proliferation light aircraft carrier and ships capable of operating F-35Bs throughout the US allied network. United Kingdom, Italy, South Korea and potentially Spain sfollow similar paths to maintain embarked aviation without the need for gigantic nuclear supercarriers. He F-35B It has thus become the centerpiece of a new generation of medium navies capable of projecting air power from relatively compact platforms. Japan fits that model perfectly, especially in a scenario where war in the Pacific could force aircraft, ammunition and fuel to be dispersed across multiple moving points. The real test begins now. Until now, much of the Japanese program had still been experimental or symbolic. The real test begins with regular operations, long deployments and the ability to sustain stealth fighters on deck for weeks. That is where it will be measured if the “Kaga” It definitively ceases to be a “helicopter destroyer” to become, in practice, a a light aircraft carrier fully operational. And there, too, the most profound change is perceived: Japan is gradually leaving behind the defensive military culture to adapt to an increasingly Indo-Pacific more militarizedcompetitive and unpredictable. Image | hunini In Xataka | Japan has just crossed a line unprecedented since World War II: China has responded with supersonic missiles In Xataka | Japan has made a historic decision in the face of US uncertainty: deploy missiles that reach North Korea and China

If the question is how to deflect projectiles without skyrocketing military costs, China has found the solution: crocodiles

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In recent years, the US military has even tested fibers inspired in spider silk for future bulletproof vests. The reason was simple: some natural materials achieve absorb impacts and deform better than many modern artificial compounds. The idea of ​​using animals. The search for more effective shielding has been inspired by natural solutions for decades. Since the Second World War, different armies have studied biological structures capable of absorbing impacts, distribute energy or resist attacks better than expected. China has just joined this tradition with a peculiar proposal: armor inspired by the crocodile scales. The logic behind the project is simple. Instead of relying solely on making armor thicker, heavier and more expensive, researchers are trying to modify the way projectiles hit the surface to force them to deflect, lose stability and fragment before passing through. How it works. The Ningbo University team replaced the traditional hexagonal plates used in many armors composed of small rhomboidal ceramic pieces placed at 45 degree angles. The arrangement imitates the irregular, overlapping structure of crocodile scales. During testing, the design was able to more effectively reduce the residual velocity of hardened steel projectiles and increase fragmentation of the ammunition upon impact. The objective is not only to withstand the shot, but to alter the physical behavior of the projectile at the moment of contact so that part of its energy is lost before reaching the main armor. The obsession with reducing costs. The most relevant thing about the project is not only the additional protection, but the attempt to make it cheaper. Chinese researchers they insist in that any structural improvement that allows the same materials to be used with better results can greatly reduce the manufacturing cost. There is no doubt, this obsession makes a lot of sense in modern warfare. Shielding vehicles, helicopters or troops against increasingly powerful ammunition requires enormous amounts of advanced materials and gigantic budgets. From that perspective, if a relatively simple geometric modification achieves better results without increasing weight or industrial complexity, the economic impact can be enormous on a large scale. Logic born of recent wars. If you like, the Chinese research also reflects a broader change that is already seen in Ukraine and other recent conflicts: it is increasingly important economic efficiency of weapons and defenses. For years, military innovation was dominated by extremely sophisticated and expensive systems. Now many countries are looking for solutions that are sufficiently effective, easy to manufacture and sustainable in long wars. In this sense, Russia already demonstrated how relatively simple glider bombs could cause enormous problems at low cost. Ukraine responded with cheap drones capable of destroying much more expensive equipment. The shielding crocodile inspired fits perfectly into this new logic: trying to unbalance the relationship between cost and effectiveness without having to resort to futuristic technologies that are impossible to mass produce. Future battlefields. For now, the Chinese system remains in the experimental phase and still needs much more demanding tests, including multiple impacts and firing from different angles. Still, researchers believe it could end up being used in armored vehicles, helicopters, ships and even light aerospace structures. What is interesting is that China does not present the project as a spectacular technological revolution, but rather as a pragmatic improvement based on simple principles. geometry and materials. An idea that pretty well sums up where part of current military innovation is heading: less obsession with creating impossible weapons and more interest in find smart ways and relatively cheap to survive in an environment where each projectile and each armor cost more and more money. Image | David Shackelford, PXHere, Unsplash In Xataka | China is manufacturing missiles at an unprecedented speed. And the final objective is not Taiwan, it is another island 3,000 km away In Xataka | China has made a science fiction dream come true: an electromagnetic cannon capable of reaching 3,000 shots per minute

Airbus had a single center in the world to convert commercial aircraft into military tankers. Now another one will open in Seville

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Airbus has chosen Seville to install its second global conversion center for the A330 MRTT, the best-selling tanker and military transport aircraft on the market outside the United States. The San Pablo plant will thus become the twin of the Getafe plant, until now the only one in the world capable of transforming A330 commercial aircraft into its multirole military version. We made the announcement during the opening of the ADM Sevilla 2026 fair and the facilities are expected to be operational at the end of 2027. Why it matters. The A330 MRTT is experiencing a sweet moment, as it accumulates some 91 orders from 19 countries and controls 90% of the world market share, excluding the United States. The war in ukrainethe escalation of military spending in Europe and the growing need for tanker aircraft to extend the air forces’ operating margin have triggered demand for a model that until now was assembled at a rate limited by its single-plant capacity. Add Seville will allow you to go from five to seven annual conversions and thus take some work off the Getafe plant. In detail. The conversion process is usually a rather complex task for European aerospace engineering. Civilian A330s leave the Toulouse chain and they are transferred to the conversion center, where for about nine months military systems, in-flight refueling equipment, specific avionics, communications and interior configurations adapted to each client are integrated, until they are ready for aerial refueling missions, troop transport, strategic cargo or medical evacuations. The plant in Seville will also assume maintenance, repair and modernization (MRO) tasks for aircraft already in service. Airbus will take advantage of the current hangars in San Pablo and optimize them to work with two aircraft at a time, imitating Getafe’s way of workingwhere usually one is converted while the other receives maintenance tasks. Figures. The new line will generate around 200 direct jobswhich will be added to the 2,000 professionals already working in São Paulo, and about 600 additional positions in the auxiliary industry. In Andalusia, Airbus is responsible for around 3,500 people between the San Pablo, Tablada (Seville) and Cádiz plants, and more than 14,000 throughout Spain. Why Seville. The president of Airbus in Spain, Francisco Javier Sánchez Segura, pointed ABC that the reasons were based above all on the technical knowledge accumulated in the A400M and C295 programs, the existing infrastructure (San Pablo is the only Airbus factory with two final assembly lines) and the operational proximity with Getafe, which will act as strategic coordinator of the entire program. A technological leap. Until now, Airbus Defense and Space’s activity in Seville revolved around the assembly and maintenance of the A400M and the C295, both military transport aircraft. Sanchez Segura underlined The Seville center will replicate the cutting-edge technologies developed in Getafe, including the intensive use of augmented reality applied to the assembly and inspection of systems. Andalusia, in the focus of aviation. For the Junta de Andalucía, the announcement fits into its strategy to place the community in one of the three most important European points, along with Toulouse and Hamburg. The acting Minister of Industry, Jorge Paradela, recalled that the region already has several important investments, such as the arrival of the Swiss company Pilatus to manufacture private and military training aircraft, and the Ryanair projectvalued at 500 million euros, to internalize the repair of aeronautical engines in Andalusia, with 600 direct jobs planned. The acting Minister of Economy, Carolina España, rated the Airbus announcement is “magnificent news”, also highlighting that exports from the Andalusian aerospace sector have grown by 86% so far in 2026. The other side. The ADM Seville fair, where the advertisement was presented, also attracted protests. The STOP Arms Fair Platform, which brings together social groups, unions, environmentalists and pacifists, gathered at the gates of FIBES to denounce “the institutional support” for the defense industry and the presence of companies that, according to these organizations, have links to human rights violations in armed conflicts such as the one in Gaza. What’s coming now. Airbus has about two years of works, personnel training and technological adaptation ahead before San Pablo delivers its first converted aircraft. If the planned pace is met, Seville and Getafe will end up operating in a coordinated manner to satisfy a larger customer base in a context that does not seem to be going to let up. According to Sánchez SeguraAerópolis depends on around 70% of Airbus’ workload, and this for the Seville plant means consolidating in a field that until now was foreign to it. Cover image | Air and Space Army In Xataka | The war in Iran is doing something that not even Ryanair imagined: making 20 euro flights a relic of the past

On its way to increasing military production, Spain already has two new candidates: Seat and Ford

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Europe rearms. The war in Ukraine and the constant pressure from the United States Government for European countries to increase their defense spending has driven a rearmament that crosses Europe and has raised blisters among the nations that invest the least in defense. One of them is Spain. But Spain, like many other European countries, is already looking for spaces to increase its weapons production. And he has an idea: car factories. What has happened? Spain is already considering using car factories to promote its military modernization programs. That’s what it says Expansiona medium that points to internal Defense sources as the voices that advance the conversations that the Government would have had with companies such as Ford and Seat. According to this medium, the conversations are part of the implementation of “the budgets and sizing of the new military modernization programs (PEM) that are going to be launched.” The objective is to define the budget to be used and where it could go, with the intention of presenting them around summer and assigning them at the end of the year. Seat and Ford? That Seat and Ford are the first to be mentioned makes a lot of sense. With its conversion towards the electric carMartorell planned to reduce staff and resize its facilities. In 2022 they estimated a surplus of almost 2,000 direct jobs and with a commitment to new technology, the El Prat plant focused on gearboxes is one of the most notable. For its part, Ford seems to be looking for a new future to its Almussafes plant or, at least, part of it. The company has significantly reduced its production and, although it has confirmed the assembly of a new modeleverything indicates that Ford does not fully trust the plant. In fact, the latest rumors suggested that The Chinese company Geely wanted to take over part of the facilities. With a view to Defense. Although there is now open talk of converting part of the plants of these two companies into spaces to produce military material, the truth is that this idea has been floating around Seat for a few weeks. Last March it already emerged that Seat negotiated with Indra to manufacture light military vehicles. The agreement, they assured in Five Dayswould have the approval of the Government, which already stated last year that the reconversion of the automobile industrial sector could involve, at least in part, supporting Defense. It also coincides with the increase in Indra’s investments in the military field. Not only in Spain. Reconditioning automobile facilities to produce war material is not an idea that was born in Spain, far from it. In Germany, there have been negotiations that one of the Volkswagen plants begins to manufacture tanks. Last year there was also talk of Renault’s turnaround, pioneer in tank productionto manufacture drones bound for Ukraine. And not just vehicles. Last March there was already talk of the possibility that Volkswagen will start producing parts for missiles at its Osnabrück plant, according to Financial Times. The intention is that trucks would leave their facilities to transport them but also basic equipment such as shuttles or electrical generators to activate them. A key moment. If governments are looking with eager eyes at European automobile plants, it is because they know that the industry is not going through its best moment. The conversion to electric cars points to massive layoffsespecially because they lack a good part of the mechanical components that are present in any combustion car. Furthermore, its simplification points to shorter assembly times, a greater presence of robots and less human capital. These massive layoffs could be saved, at least in part, with the reconversion of these plants. It must be taken into account that manufacturing in Europe is more expensive than doing so in Asia or countries with preferential trade agreements with Europe such as Morocco either Türkiye. This is moving part of European production to these countries. Especially the smaller ones that are more complicated to make profitable. Spain is of the countries that are suffering the least from the blow because, at the level of salaries and energy costs, we are more competitive than plants from Germany or France. However, both Volkswagen with Seat and Ford, Stellantis either mercedes They have dropped that they are willing to reduce their workforce and production in our country. Photo | Caesar and seat In Xataka | Ford invested 1 billion to produce electric cars in Europe. Now it will invest money in laying off 1,000 employees

Someone has calculated which countries in the world have increased their military spending the most and there is a surprise: Spain is in the lead

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With the beating of war drums in the background, the invasion of Ukraine encystedthe tension climbing in the Middle East and Donald Trump feinting with removing the US from NATO at the same time required more investment military to its partners, in 2025 the world has chosen a clear path: spend more money on defense. Quite a bit more. SIPRI calculations show that global military spending increased by 2.9% last year to almost 2.9 trillion dollars. This increase is largely explained by the effort made in Asia, Russia and Europe, where an unexpected protagonist stands out: Spain. Despite the differences With the leadership of NATO and the loud friction with Trump, the reality is that Spain is one of the countries that has increased its investment most clearly and is already in the “Top 15” in volume of war spending. What has happened? Which the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has just published a study on military spending in 2025. It is a valuable tool because it helps us understand two things: how much the planet is investing in strengthening its war capacity and, more importantly, how that flow of money is distributed geographically. Reading it is particularly interesting in Spain for another reason: it shows that, despite the friction that Madrid has had with the White House and the address of NATO on account of military spending, Spain has made a notable investment effort. In fact, on the SIPRI list it stands out as one of the countries that has increased its defense spending the most, surpassing other European partners. Click on the image to go to the tweet. How much does Spain invest? If we base ourselves on the SIPRI data, 34,256 million of euros. The figure is important because of its scope, but above all because of the trend it shows: it shows that last year military spending increased by 50% in Spain. If we look back even further, to 2016, the increase is 122%. It is also the first time Since the mid-90s, the allocation for weapons exceeds 2% of GDP. If these data were not sufficient in themselves, they stand out even more when compared with the rest of the countries analyzed. Although the US, China and Russia lead the investment effort in terms of spending volume, when we look at the increase in spending there is only one nation that exceeds 50% of Spain. Which? Belgium, with an increase of 59%, although its level of spending is much lower than that of Spain (14.5 billion dollars). In fact, the increase in investment has allowed our country to position itself in the global “TOP 15”, behind Poland or South Korea and ahead of Canada. How is it possible? That jump is largely due to Industrial and Technological Plan for Security and Defense approved a year ago and that, according to the ministrycontemplated an initial investment of 10,471 million already in 2025. However, the SIPRI tables reflect that Spain continues to dedicate much fewer resources to defense than other EU (and NATO) partners, such as Germany, France, Italy or Poland, which in the last decade has skyrocketed its spending. Why is it important? For what we mentioned before: 2025 will be remembered for many debates, but there was one in particular that grabbed headlines for months and made Spain stand out worldwide. Despite Trump’s pressure for NATO partners to increase their defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP, Madrid claimed that it could meet its commitments with an investment of ‘only’ 2.1%. His position was not liked in the White House, but it ended up leading to a pact with those responsible for the Atlantic Alliance. How much does the rest spend? That is another of the readings that leaves the study of SIPRI. In general, its technicians estimate that military spending increased by 2.9% worldwide in 2025, to around $2.9 million. It is the eleventh consecutive year in which the amount of resources that the planet allocates to the war machine has increased and explains that today the “global military burden” (its weight with respect to GDP) reaches 2.5%, marking its highest level since 2009. Are there differences? Yes. That increase was not distributed equally throughout the world. While in the US military spending suffered an annual contraction of 7.5%, in Europe military spending grew by 14% to reach 864,000 million of dollars. The same trend continued in Russia (+5.9%) and Ukraine (+20%), immersed in a war since 2022, or China (+7.4%) and Japan (+9.7%). That the US distances itself from this trend is something purely circumstantial. If its war expenditure decreased in 2025, it was due to the change in policy regarding the military support offered by Ukraine. In fact, SIPRI recalls that the US Congress has already given the green light to a considerable increase in military spending for this year and it is not unreasonable that something similar could happen in 2027. Image | Ministry of Defense In Xataka | Nobody saw it coming: Ukraine’s scariest drone doesn’t move, just waits for a Russian soldier to appear

Germany already has its first military plan since World War II. And it’s going to take thousands of soldiers to carry it out.

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For decades, Germany avoided any gesture that recalled its military past, to the point that even talking about its own strategy generated political discomfort. That reflection had deep roots: on September 1, 1939, the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany marked the beginning of the Second World War and left a mark that conditioned for generations the way in which the country understood the use of force. Almost a century later, that silence begins to be broken, but in a radically different context. A historic turn. Germany has taken a step that breaks decades of strategic caution by presenting its first comprehensive military strategy in the modern era, a 35 page document which bluntly assumes that the European security environment has changed irreversibly. In that sense, the invasion of ukraine has acted as a catalyst for a profound change in German mentality, forcing Berlin to move from a contained role within NATO to a much more active and defining one. For the first time since World War II, Germany not only talks about contributing, but to leadleaving behind his traditional discomfort with military protagonism. Except Washington. Although the official discourse continues to describe the United States as an indispensable pillar, the substance of the strategy points in another direction: Europe must learn to stand on its own. Washington is increasingly looking towards the Indo-Pacific and demands that its European allies greater involvementwhich has led Berlin to prepare for scenarios in which American support is not as automatic or immediate, at the very least. Without saying it openly, Germany is beginning to design a European defense framework where its role does not depend so much on North American coverage, but on your own ability to organize, coordinate and sustain the defense of the continent. The most powerful army in Europe. That’s the idea. The German plan is clear in its ambition: to convert the Bundeswehr into the conventional army strongest on the continent. To this end, a significant increase in troops is proposed, going from about 185,000 soldiers to figures that, adding active forces and reservists, could approach or exceed the 460,000 troops in the coming decades. This growth is not only numerical, but also structural, with a special emphasis on reinforce reserveswhich become a central element of national defense. The idea that emerges is forceful, one in which, if Europe wants to defend itself without depending entirely from the United States, will need a much larger military mass, and Germany is willing to lead that effort. A construction in phases. German rearmament is not considered as an immediate leap, but as a step process which will extend for more than a decade. In a first phase, the objective is to maximize readiness and rapid response capacity, ensuring that forces can operate at any time. Subsequently, it seeks to systematically expand capabilities in all domains, aligning with NATO objectives but with greater operational autonomy. Finally and finally, the horizon points to a deep technological transformationone where innovation, artificial intelligence and new forms of war define military superiority. Beyond the numbers. Yes, because the German strategy also reflects a more complex understanding of modern conflict, where the borders between military, civil and economic are increasingly blurred. Hybrid warfare, autonomous systems and the importance of information control force us to rethink not only how many soldiers or tanks are needed, but what effects they should be able to generate. In this context, the German strategy recognizes key shortcomings in Europesuch as intelligence, surveillance or long-range attack capacity, and proposes correcting them quickly so as not to be at a disadvantage against powers such as Russia. Europe as its own military pillar. The underlying message is difficult to ignore: the defense of the continent is already can’t rest exclusively in the traditional NATO structure as it was understood in recent decades. In this way, Germany wants to position itself like the axis on which a more militarily autonomous Europe could be articulated, capable of deterring and, if necessary, fight for herself. There is no doubt, the approach implies assuming a responsibility that was avoided for a long time, and that now appears inevitable in the face of a more unstable environment and a US ally. less focused on Europe. Human muscle. It is the last of the legs to analyze, because the entire German approach converges on a central idea that is beginning to take shape: if Europe wants to sustain a credible defense without completely depending from the United Statesyou will need mobilize hundreds of thousands of soldiers and rebuild a military base that had been reduced for years. Viewed this way, Germany is not only increasing its own forces, but is leading the way for what could be a continental effort much older. In that scenario, the question may no longer be just whether Europe can defend itself, but rather how much time, resources and personnel it is willing to devote to achieving this. Image | 7th Army Training Command, Pexels In Xataka | Germany was a sleeping military giant: now it has been awakened and it is already surpassing the US in bullets produced per year In Xataka | Germany is experiencing a new “industrial miracle” that it already experienced 90 years ago: that of weapons

The Pentagon wants to invest $54 billion in drones. It is more than the entire military budget of countries like Ukraine

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The defense budget that the Pentagon has presented for fiscal year 2027 amounts to $1.5 trillion. It is the largest year-on-year increase in military spending since World War II, but in that colossal figure there is another that deserves special attention. This is the $53.6 billion allocated exclusively to drones and autonomous warfare technologies. That amount alone exceeds the Ukraine’s full defense budget either of countries like South Korea or Italy. Spain is even further away. autonomous defense. The money for this specific program will be managed by the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG), an agency created at the end of 2025. In the 2026 budget it received 226 million dollars, but in 2027 that figure would be multiplied almost by 240. The United States has realized the relevance that drones have gained in war conflicts and wants to be prepared for this new era of defense. Obsolete investment. The Pentagon itself recognized something striking: the vast majority of the money requested will be used to buy technology that already exists, not to develop future solutions. One of the top officials of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lieutenant General Steven Whitney, admitted that technological evolution on the battlefield currently happens in weeks, not years. It’s like admitting that what you buy now may become obsolete almost immediately. Ukraine showed that change has changed. The urgency of this budget does not come from nowhere. The war in Ukraine has rewritten the rules of modern combat In such a way that there are many countries that are processing how to assume these changes. Iranian Shahed droneswhich cost about $20,000 per unit, have proven capable of saturating air defense systems that cost hundreds of times more. Relatively affordable quadcopter drones have destroyed multi-million euro tanks and armored vehicles. Defense budgets in 2025. The US already spent 921 billion dollars last year, this year it wants to spend 50% more. Everything goes very fast. The speed of tactical adaptation on the Ukrainian front has been so high that innovations and tactics that work in January may be obsolete by March. Not because someone has invented something better, but because the adversary has found a way to counter those strategies. The Pentagon has reached an unusual conclusion: the traditional model of weapons acquisition that operated in cycles of years or even decades is structurally incompatible with the speed at which current war conflicts are developing. The irony of the Shahed. Among the most striking details of the budget is the confirmation that the American army has adapted the technology of the Iranian Shahed dronewhich is the same one that has been attacking cities and energy infrastructures in Ukraine for years. The US has done reverse engineering of your adversary’s design to incorporate it into your own arsenal. This clearly illustrates the current war reality: the origin of the technology does not matter, but its effectiveness. Risks. This tension between “we have to spend more” and the speed at which it is necessary to adapt to this reality poses an enormous risk. Buy en masse what works today guarantees that solutions will be available tomorrow. The problem is that these solutions may be technically inferior to those that the adversary has developed in the meantime. The same thing happens if you decide not to buy anything until you have the perfect technology, because that means arriving late (or not arriving at all). It is a dilemma similar to that of technology companies and their investment in infrastructure: they have to buy solutions now that they know that they will end up being obsolete in the short or medium term. Final approval is missing. The US Congress will have to approve the budget, which introduces an important political variable. Beyond that, there is a fundamental question in those 54,000 million in this budget. If drone technology evolves in weeks, there is no money that will be able to buy that adaptability to the modern battlefield. And that even with this immense budget superiority cannot be guaranteed makes clear the sign of the times. In Xataka | The percentage of GDP that each country allocates to Defense, shown in this graph with an unavoidable protagonist

We sensed that Iran bombed US military bases with help. Some coordinates have revealed its name, and it is Made in China

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During the Gulf War, a group of Iraqi soldiers were located in the middle of the desert not by ground patrols, but by images taken from satellites that detected recent vehicle tracks in the sand. That episode marked one of the first moments in which looking from space began to be so decisive how to shoot from the ground. A satellite as an invisible weapon. A series of leaked documents held by the Financial Times have revealed that Iran not only had missiles and drones to attack US bases, but also a much quieter and decisive tool: an observation satellite capable of provide precise coordinates before and after each blow. The system, known like TEE-01Bwas acquired by the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in late 2024, after its launch from China, and allowed Iranian commanders to monitor key installations throughout the region, identify targets with a level of detail unprecedented for the country and evaluate the impact of their attacks in almost real time. In other words, what seemed like a direct fire war actually hid a previous layer of orbital intelligence which multiplied the effectiveness of each operation. A secret agreement. The middle counted in its exclusive that behind this capacity is a little visible but strategic agreement with Chinese actors, one that not only facilitated access to the satellite already in orbit, but also to the infrastructure necessary to operate it from any point in the world. This model, based on the “in orbit” transfer and in networks of globally distributed ground stations (a little-known export model by which spacecraft launched in China are transferred to customers abroad once they reach orbit), allowed Iran to overcome one of its main weaknesses: the vulnerability of its own facilities to attack. By outsourcing control and data flow, Tehran turned a commercial asset on a military tool difficult to neutralize. Satellite image of the Prince Sultan Air Base From limited precision to a qualitative leap. The technical impact of this jump is key to understanding its importance. Compared to its previous systems, incapable of clearly identifying complex targets, the new satellite offered high resolution images (the TEE-01B is capable of capturing images with a resolution of approximately half a meter) that allowed aircraft, vehicles and changes in military infrastructure to be distinguished. This transformed Iranian attack planning from general estimates to data-driven decisions, and consolidated a combination of human intelligence, satellite imagery, and external support that significantly elevated Iran’s operational capabilities. Attack on the bases. Among the records they obtained showed that the satellite captured images from Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 13, 14 and 15. On March 14, Donald Trump confirmed that American planes at the base had been hit. Five US Air Force refueling aircraft were damaged. The satellite also carried out surveillance of the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and from locations near the naval base of the Fifth Fleet of the United States in Manama, Bahrain, and the airport in Erbil, Iraq, around the date of the attacks claimed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard against facilities in those areas. Launch of TEE-01B And more bases. Other areas monitored by the satellite included Camp Buehring and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, the US military base Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti and Duqm International Airport in Oman. Also included in the Persian Gulf civil infrastructure monitored was the Khor Fakkan container port and the Qidfa desalination and power plant in the United Arab Emirates, as well as the Alba plant in Bahrain, one of the largest aluminum smelters in the world. Decades of relationship that explain the present. In parallel to FT reportthe New York Times published this morning one piece where he explains that these types of advances are not an isolated event, but rather the result of a relationship built over decades between Iran and China in the military and technological field. Since the 1980s, when Beijing supplied weapons directly, to recent decades, when it has opted for more discreet support based on components, dual technology and knowledge transfer, cooperation has evolved. to adapt to sanctions and regional balances. In that process, China has gone from selling weapons to facilitating capabilities that allow Iran to develop and improve its own without openly exposing itself. Strategic ambiguity as a tool. One of the most relevant elements of this relationship has been its ambiguous characterwhere the border between civil and military is constantly blurred. Commercial companies, seemingly neutral technologies and systems designed for civilian uses end up being integrated into military structures, offering China a way to influence without assuming directly the political cost of explicit support. This approach allows for simultaneous relations with Iran’s regional rivals while strengthening its strategic capabilities. A new type of war. In short, the end result is a scenario in which the battlefield no longer begins on land, but miles away from herin orbit, where information has become the most decisive factor and actor. The combination of satellites, global networks and discreet agreements It redefines that way of waging war, allowing actors with fewer resources to compensate for their limitations through access to advanced technology. In that context, the history of the TEE-01B It is not just that of a satellite, but how a network of cooperation and decades of technological evolution can completely transform the way an attack is planned and executed. Image | US Navy, Planet Labs In Xataka | The US already has the first response to its blockade of Hormuz: a boomerang of unpredictable consequences called China In Xataka | The US has closed all exits from the Strait of Hormuz. And now Iran can put into practice what it has been preparing for 25 years

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