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The article deals with the interpretation of the term "armed forces" in the context of the current legal system of the Czech Republic. The authors propose to distinguish between the armed forces in the institutional concept and in the functional concept. The essence of the solution is the interpretation of Section 3(1) of the Armed Forces Act (No. 219/1999 Coll.) in the functional concept, i.e. in such a way that the armed forces are understood to include soldiers assigned to the Ministry of Defence, military schools, the Military Police and the Military Intelligence. Another solution could be to add a paragraph to the Armed Forces Act stating that "The provisions on members of the armed forces shall apply mutatis mutandis to soldiers on active service assigned to the Ministry of Defence, military schools, the Military Police and the Military Intelligence." The aim of the article is initiation professional discussions about the issue in question, as well as indications of directions as to how it would be appropriate to solve the matter.

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 article deals with particularly topical problem, the riots with ethnic background. The present situation is compared with history illustrations and with similar recent events abroad. Author's reflections and scenarios outline a variant of state failure and its institutions, with the exception of army. He identifies respective incoming risks, among others tied with the so-called Roma question. Actually, his hypothetical solutions are not backed by the current laws of the Czech Republic. The author comes to the conclusion that army deployment might be used only as an instrument of last resort, "ultima ratio".

This article looks at the operation of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic in Cyprus within the UNFICYP peacekeeping operation. It presents the basic legal framework for the operation of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic in this peacekeeping operation and maps the progress of the peacekeeping operation and the fulfilment of tasks by its members. The aim of the research was to evaluate the current approach of the Slovak Republic to UN operations with an emphasis on addressing the security situation at Cyprus. At the same time, the article points to the important role of the Slovak Republic in the UNFICYP peacekeeping operation after it took over responsibility for the entire Sector 4 in 2018.

The paper deals with the process of radicalization in the armed forces in Central Europe, with specific focus on the Czech Armed Forces and the Bundeswehr. The author conceptualizes radicalization as a recent security threat and explains the specifics of the use of this concept in the armed forces. The most important historical legacies are identified and the current development cases and trends are analyzed and compared, including the specifics of various streams of extremism. Possible recommendations how to counter radicalization are included in the paper.

The article is a thematic sequel of a previous work addressing the concept of Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) in the context of modern warfare. It highlights the differences in the conceptual approaches to MDO as applied by the U.S. Armed Forces and NATO in response to current security challenges. The study outlines the shift by NATO and the U.S. from traditional joint operations to integrated strategies within respective operational domains. Based on a literature review and content analysis of doctrinal documents, it identifies a fundamental difference in the conceptual approaches of NATO and the U.S. to MDO. While the U.S. approach emphasizes a military-oriented model that generates synergistic effects through coordinated operations and technologically driven dominance, NATO’s framework favours a comprehensive civil-military model of strategic integration.

The article is a polemic reflection over the potential concept and vision of defence and EU combined armed forces, from the military point of view. It recalls previous efforts and present activities to implement common security and defence policy in practice. It is a short analysis of conditions under which the EU is situated, and in general contours it characterizes possible advantages of common European armed forces. It expresses author's opinion that by forming "European Pillar" in NATO, the transatlantic linkage between the EU and the USA will not be weakening, but on the contrary, it will be strengthen. The author uses the terms "European army" and "common armed forces of EU" that he takes as synonyms and therefore he asks the reader to take this fact in account.

The modernization of armaments and military technology is one of the ways to increase the combat potential of the Armed Forces and has implications at all levels of the Armed Forces. Its main purpose is to replace obsolete technology with new ones to prepare the Armed Forces to meet the new challenges of the future security environment. New technologies play a key role in this regard. Not only the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic, but also other NATO and EU member states have planned significant modernization projects for conventional military conflict but also unconventional, asymmetric and hybrid conflicts. The authors examine approaches to the modernization of the Land Forces of selected countries. Finally, the armament strategy of selected countries is compared with the armament strategy of the Czech Republic's Land Forces.

The preparation of soldiers for future employment in the civilian labor market is a critical issue that requires attention. This research aimed to identify soldiers' preferences regarding their transition to civilian employment after their military service. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 128 active-duty soldiers from two units of the Czech Armed Forces. The majority of respondents prefer a second career in the private sector, and most would like to start preparing several months before their service ends. Many respondents expressed interest in expanding their skills to improve employability, with retraining courses being the most preferred option. Overall, interest in the offered support tools for career transition was significant, with the job portal being the most favored. Many respondents believe soldiers face difficulties in securing civilian employment after their service and assess the current system for preparing soldiers for a second career as underdeveloped.

The article analyzes key aspects of the development of the Czech Republic‘s defense policy since 1989, with a focus on the role of strategic culture. It examines historical, political, and social factors that have shaped the Czech Republic‘s approach to defense and security issues. Special attention is given to the transformation of the Czech Armed Forces, the transition to a professional military model, and responses to changing geopolitical threats. The analysis also considers public perceptions of the military, the influence of historical narratives on strategic culture, and the attitudes of political elites toward defense matters. The article highlights the importance of strategic culture as an analytical framework for understanding long-term trends and the evolution of defense policy, while suggesting potential avenues for future research in the Czech context.

The research described in this paper was conducted in the framework of institutional research project Strategic Alternatives (STRATAL) within the Centre for Security and Military Strategic Studies of University of Defence, The Czech Republic. Article assesses the development of Czech Defence policy in 2017 and first half of 2018. Authors analyse key change drivers in external environment (security threats, EU strategic autonomy, transatlantic link). In second step authors evaluate measures taken in political, military, administrative, economical and societal domain in response to key change drivers and highlight related risks to effective defence policy formulation and implementation.

The article deals with the preparation of the Active Reserve of Czech Armed Forces, territorial forces in detail. It compares them to the equivalent of the active reserves of the Polish army, namely the Territorial Defense troops. A comparison of the development and preparation of these forces points to the necessity of solving or updating the system of calling up reserves of the Czech Armed Forces, their training, arming and equipping.

The Armed Forces of BiH were officially unified in 2005 and are composed of two founding armies: the Bosniak-Croat Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska. Even though the unified armed forces celebrated their 13^th anniversary in December 2018 and are presented as a success story, the political environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly in Republika Srpska, does not foster a sense of unity in the armed forces. The paper explores the vulnerabilities that the unified armed forces face, particularly in relation to the process of state building in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The text concludes, that the main concerns for the BiH armed forces include the old equipment, the economic problems of the country and budget constraints, politicisation and ethnicisation - while ongoing nationalism and the unsure future of BiH remain the greatest external challenges.

This paper deals with the issue of logistics planning – one of the seven planning domains of defence planning in the Ministry of Defence Department of the Slovak Republic. In the framework of the descriptive research problem, the author was looking for an answer to the question: How is logistics planned in the defence planning system at the departmental level? The article contains the results of theoretical and empirical research carried out on the given issue. The author explains the main theoretical background of the research issue, describesin more detail the methodology of logistics planning in the conditions of the department as well as current knowledge and experience from practice, points out the most significant problems in the field and proposes their possible solutions.

The article presents selected functionalities of intelligence support in the Czech Armed Forces, which are addressed in the context of opportunities and challenges of the future operating environment. Its aim is to formulate, in parallel reflection with the current approaches of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the possibilities of implementing intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and electromagnetic warfare in national conditions. Military practice is presented with a direction on how to respond to changes in the nature of the operational environment, including changes in the physical and non-physical domains of the battlespace to which all components of modern military forces must adapt while maintaining the necessary interoperability. The article is a response to differing and often not entirely correct understandings of the issue, which can be found even among specialists. It summarizes what has been learned so far and suggests where the discussed functionalities should go.

Pacifism, opposition to war and other violence, is both organized political movement and individual ideology. Pacifism varies from a form that is absolute and doctrinal to a relative and more practical form. Absolute pacifists are against all wars and against violence in any form whatsoever; relative pacifists are selective of the wars and violence they oppose. Most absolute pacifists stress the immorality of the taking of one person's life by another person. The philosophy of pacifism has been propounded throughout history on grounds of morality, divine will, or economic and social utility. The probable impact of pacifist theories on the Armed Forces is discussed in this article, as service in our forces is set by the law and inner normative acts of the Ministry of Defence.

Current War in Ukraine represents conventional conflict of high intensity unparallel in contemporary European history. Using a qualitative method, authors present character of the war and identify its key specifics through multi-domain optics. A preliminary set of recommendations is derived from these results for the national defense capability of Czech Republic. Authors conclude that both State and the Armed Forces must increase their readiness for the large-scale conflict.

The main goal of the article is to present the activities of members of the Slovak Armed Forces in the military operation ISAF and familiarize the reader with the main facts involving the Slovak Republic as a member of the Alliance in this operation. The text outlines the genesis of the ISAF and structure of the components of the Slovak contingent. SAF members during their tenure at ISAF gain valuable experiences that make up their professional competence and achieve greater compatibility with other members of the Alliance. In conclusion, the most important awards are presented by the coalition partners for professional use, so competence and commitment of the SAF to assist and defend basic human rights and freedom of the Afghan people, to help them take responsibility for themselves and their country.

The main characteristics of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic-leadership, organization, doctrines, personnel and its preparation, weapons systems, material, infrastructure-has been continuously adopted since their creation in 1993. This article analyses three main strands of this process: the first one constitutes the changes in the global security environment and their impact on the role and tasks of armed forces. The second strand reflects the marginalisation of security and defence policy agenda, influencing the instability of armed forces. The last strand focuses on the growing role of international organisations during the provision of security and defence of the Czech Republic. In summary, the author identifies main challenges ahead for Czech political and military leadership.

The participation of women in the armed forces creates many challenges to their integration in a masculine-dominated mechanism. Traditionally, military service embodies the macho culture where a certain type of physical strength is required, attainable only through the male frame. The traditional military personnel model represents a young male force that is supported by spouses who stay at home but modern warfare and the inclusion of technology have opened many chances for women to be included in the armed forces. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to highlight various fields of armed forces where women in Pakistan may or may not be suitable to be integrated. The paper descriptively analyzes the participation of women in armed forces in general and in the Pakistan Armed Forces in particular. Recommendations highlight the combat operations relevant to the Pakistan Armed Forces context which women can or cannot be integrated into.

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 aims at highlighting the dangers of long underestimating the need to permanently improve the defense capabilities to deal with current and future security threats. Authors suggest propositions on where to direct the efforts to improve the competence of the Defense to meet the Act Of Defense Requirements. The first part of the article describes, after brief analysis, the options of collective defense and explains the need to solve demanding tasks on own territory under national responsibility in parallel. The second part of the article describes the main thoughts of the theory of "territorial defense", which is missing in current Doctrine of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. Theory of territorial defense makes a foundation, upon which the preparedness of the Armed forces of the Czech Republic should be built. In the third part of the article the authors discuss the alternative of implementing the collective defense principle by building multinational joint forces, independent of national armed forces, in transnational responsibility of the coalition of member states, dedicated to the territorial defense of member states and to crisis response expeditionary operations.

The aim of the text is to present the approach to assessing the military potential of the state as well as the will or possibilities to be used to achieve national strategic interests or power objectives. This approach is methodologically based on the sectoral analysis of the state's power potential and its possible projections in the construction and use of armed forces. The described and used approach in the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic is applied to the current Russian Federation and its military or power activities

One of most discussed themes in this field is also a critique of unfinished, non-stable structure of master documents, e.g. Security Strategy of the Czech Republic. They are often told to be obsolete. The latest document, the White Paper on Defence, Critical responses are not quite justified. There are a lot of good ideas, innovations. Many things have been done, many set tasks have been met at the level of Defence Ministry. Positive effects of results reached are obvious. They are summarized in the White Paper mentioned above. The only danger lies in arbitrary decisions by political management, including employing variable means of their implementation, wanton interpretation of leading defence principles, low respect to approved strategical decisions. We must name mentioned handicaps as a first step towards the real and true remedy.

The aim of this study was to create an overview of the Czech Armed Forces' development in approach to environmental protection from 1989 to 2022. Using the methods of analysis, synthesis and comparison of the Czech, EU´s and NATO´s environmental legislation, we created a comprehensive and previously unpublished overview of environmental protection within the Czech Armed Forces. Found outputs were set into illustrations depicting the activities in the environmental field with internal links between civil legislation, EU's requirements, and NATO's policy in chronological order. We conclude that the year 2000 represents a key milestone from which the approach to environmental protection have stagnated. Among the reasons for the stagnation, we identify commanders' concerns about "green approach" to troop training and the lack environmental education within defence department.

The article deals with a strategic document that currently represents understanding of trends, which form the future security and operational environment,and that sets up the vectors for building-up and development of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. The first aim is to assess the Long Term Perspective for Defence 2030 and its significance in context of other strategic documents adopted in the Czech Republic. Another aim is to confront its contents with a structured analysis of large quantity of the state-of-the-art foresight studies,differentiated in geographical and thematic scope. The comparison allows identifying convergence and divergence between the Czech document and relevant findings from the foreign foresight documents. This approach enables the judgement whether the Long Term Perspective for Defence 2030 provides a relevant guideline for the defence sector development, and whether it does or does not miss some of the issues found significant in the foresight documents in the outer world.

Authors of the paper present results of research in the area of deployment and operation of multirotors, i.e., autonomous aerial systems with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability. Survey of Czech Army experts' opinions based on the Delphi method points to the significance of MINI VTOL UAS project undertaking - reconnaissance VTOL autonomous aerial system. The conclusion of the analysis is the identification of the primary applications of and requirements for (concept, system, and training) successful deployment of multirotors, with framing of existing issues of technical, acquisition/program and legislative nature, and determination of their importance. The paper also explores experts' views to the acquisition and operation of multirotors in Czech Army to achieve their full operational potential, certainly available in the future battlefield. Inconsistent architecture of information sharing was identified by experts as one of the most important issues with the highest likelihood of solution in the upcoming years.

The aim of this article is to define leadership as a process required in the Czech Armed Forces. To this end, the nature of military leadership is first identified by analyzing similarities and differences of the widely accepted theoretical concepts (schools) of leadership, including approaches used in selected alliance armed forces. Based on the current state of affairs analysis, the components of leadership and the relationship among them are identified, as well as general conditions for their application. In accordance with the knowledge gained, a general leadership model of the Army of the Czech Republic is proposed.

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 study presents a meritorious view of the traditional operational factors of space, time and force. On the background of the first and second phases of the War in Ukraine, it examines how the relevant factors shape the use of military force in operations, clarifies their mutual correlation, interference, application connections and also causality. The results of the study demonstrate the necessity of a correct and holistic perception of operational factors for effective deployment and employment of military forces in the contemporary operating environment. The main benefit of the study, applying the heuristic and inventive function of analogy from the open sources of available identified knowledge from the deployment of military forces in the War in Ukraine, is the mediation of model examples of a comprehensive vision of the effects of how operational factors shape the use of military force in contemporary high-intensity warfare operations.