Elara Nova: The Space Consultancy’s Post

https://lnkd.in/dVhFTfAi Back to the Basics: How Many People Are in the People's Liberation Army? The People's Liberation Army is often described as the largest military in the world. But how big is this force, really? Depending on who you ask and what you count, the details are murky and confusing. Shanshan Mei Jul 12, 2024 The deeper one dives into the numbers, the more complicated the picture gets, and the greater the differences between the Chinese and U.S. systems become. Though many recent reforms have surface aspects that appear to reflect U.S. structures, the new-look People's Liberation Army does not mirror-image its American (or Russian) counterpart. Nor have its new organizations been tempered by combat. It is critical for defense planners, military researchers, intelligence analysts, and policymakers to take the basics of the Chinese armed forces seriously. The types of people who work for the Chinese armed forces are fundamental to understanding how their systems function. Their force structure and organizational culture determine how they plan to fight and win wars. Misunderstanding the known or misinterpreting the unknown and unknowable can have adverse effects on long-range U.S. strategic planning. Little-understood forces may contribute unexpectedly to Chinese campaigns. Or, the inertia of such a large armed force may inhibit its flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances.…

My article "Expanding the Five Eyes," has been published in the KDVA ROK-U.S. Alliance Journal 2024! This article consists of the idea of expanding the special intelligence sharing alliance to other East Asian allies. Something I will be working on for the next year. Check out Korea Defense Veterans Association when you get a chance and you can read the article here: https://lnkd.in/eWiAB4UE Thanks to all at the KDVA team and for the opportunity to share my thoughts and research!

Studying Landpower in the Indo-Pacific The China Landpower Studies Center at the U.S. Army War College produces research and analysis of China's strategic landpower for U.S. policymakers and military leaders.  Blog Post by Richard Butler June 27, 2024 While most of the Center’s publications will focus on PRC defense and strategy topics, the staff’s research portfolio also includes other important actors in the Indo-Pacific, such as Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and their relations to the PRC. The Center will also work with think tanks and academia from partner nations to include their points of view on the strategic and operational environments in the Indo-Pacific. The Center will also illuminate how U.S. landpower plays an outsized role in in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific. The staff will outline options for using strategic landpower during crises and wartime to deny adversary objectives and avoid culmination during a potential war. This focus on U.S. policy and capabilities in the region will advise how other nations can integrate their visions of multidomain operations via strategic engagement, exercises, training, posture changes, and foreign military sales or finance.

Eisenhower Matrix A Productive Tool " I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent". Eisenhower US President Dwight Eisenhower himself developed the concept behind what would later be called the Eisenhower Matrix. Matrix is a task management tool that helps you prioritize tasks based on their urgency and importance. Eisenhower used it to help him prioritize and deal with the many high-stakes issues he faced as a US Army general, then as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Forces, and eventually as president of the United States. These four quadrants of Eisenhower Matrix are: 1. Do first: Urgent + Important. 2. Schedule: Not Urgent + Important. 3. Delegate: Urgent + Not Important. 4. Eliminate: Not Important + Not Urgent.

I had the pleasure of working with my seminar classmate (Carlos-Mexician Army, Luigi-Italian Army, Peter-Swiss Army, and Bernardo-Spanish Army) on NATO Multidomain Operations (MDO) Concept. This project was intriguing and of utmost importance in the current strategic landscape. As I delved into the topic, I discovered a wealth of knowledge about NATO and its plan to implement MDO. One key aspect emerged was the unique challenges and advantages of NATO's proximity to Russia. Over the past 30 years, Russia has made significant military technology and communications investments, which has implications for NATO's MDO strategy. The ongoing war in Ukraine is also reshaping our understanding of the character of war, providing valuable lessons for our training and planning with our NATO allies and partner. However, the majority of NATO members cannot currently deploy warfighting across various domains, making the development of the NATO MDO concept a complex task. This underscores the urgency and shared responsibility to align our strategies and preparedness, which are crucial aspects of this endeavor.

Satellite imagery is critical for identifying important security concerns, with recent developments showing the largest expansion in Russia’s military production since the Soviet era, particularly in solid rocket fuel motors. These motors are essential to Russia’s strategic missile systems. During the Soviet era, the most advanced production plant for them was at Pavlohrad in Ukraine.

I introduce my Latest book for China watchers on LinkedIn. 20 odd advanced technology fields relevant to augmentation of Chinese military capabilities have been briefly investigated.

Great post on a valuable tool. Clearly demarcates what to do, delegate, schedule or ignore. Excellent.