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This article presents the first systematic analysis of cognitive resilience education within the Czech Ministry of Defence, which is growing in importance in the context of contemporary hybrid threats. Through methodological triangulation (document analysis, questionnaires, interviews), the research maps the coverage of relevant topics across all levels of formal military education. The SWOT analysis reveals both existing foundations for cognitive resilience development and the absence of a systematic approach to this issue. The results highlight three main challenges for transforming the educational system: systematisation of the approach, personnel resources, and infrastructure modernisation. The study establishes an empirical basis for strategic recommendations to strengthen military personnel resilience against information and psychological operations.

Since the 1st release of an internal ministerial norm guiding planning processes of activities and development within the Czech Ministry of Defence (MOD) presuming existence of Capability Planning Methodology, this document has not been established. This article offers selected theoretical starting points and, on their basis, it outlines possible a ministerial process tree focused on the capability process as a ground for its definition within Czech MOD conditions. Further in a framework of an added value model proposes possible internal structure of above mentioned process down to sub-processes level with justification of their purpose and mutual links. Formulating mentioned attributes of the capability planning process this article makes a contribution to set up this process within the Czech MOD.

The center of gravity in military affairs represents a dominant element of military art, used in the planning and conduct of military operations. The doctrine defines it as the main source of power that provides the actor with his strength, freedom of action and/or the will to fight. This article examines Clausewitz’s concept of center of gravity through selected philosophical perspectives and clarifies its significance in military theory and practice. It presents the doctrinal development of the concept, discusses its context, and concludes that the concept of the center of gravity remains a key doctrinal and practical element of operational art.

The article presents a summary of analytical outcomes aimed at mapping current NATO and EU approaches to capability planning and their impact on national planning processes, which were carried out by security and defence institutions. The outcomes point out the fact that significant number of NATO nations and EU member states are using approaches to capability planning which reflect specifically national strategic objectives. It is of note that no country has implemented procedures that could be considered as standardised in terms of a single planning process within NATO or the EU. On the other side, analyses point out the fact that NATO and EU planning processes can be hardly expected to be unified in the short term. Nevertheless, NATO and EU member countries should pay close attention to the outputs of their national planning processes in order to comply with the single set of capability requirements as implemented in the relevant NATO and EU planning processes.

This article focuses on the identification of key factors of material resources in the field of equipment, armaments and military vehicles within the Czech state needed for effective mobilization. The primary goal is to answer the question of whether the Army of the Czech Republic still has adequate supplies of these key resources and whether it has the ability to increase these resources in crisis situations without significant dependence on foreign imports. The above analysis revealed mostly sufficient stocks, but at the same time significant limitations were identified in some categories, especially in their technical and moral quality (obsolescence, respectively), especially in most types of military vehicles. The issue of dependence on foreign imports concerning raw materials then changes considerably, from the minimum (combat dress) to the almost maximum (ballistic helmet) level.

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 article brings results of the analysis of 14 national documents and 14 Czech Ministry of Defence internal documents. Document analysis showed the lack of traceability and verifiability of the methods, and that the methods of strategic analysis were usually used incorrectly, or incompletely. A proposal that can improve the situation is following: creation of a repository of processed strategic information, and the establishment of a specialized department, which will deal with the processing of strategic information and data, and will also create conditions for the creation of institutional knowledge. Another part of the proposed solution is also the inclusion of the topic of aggregating and processing complex analyses into the education system for all the staff presumed in participation in the strategic planning.

The article deals with some military consequences of the departure of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union (Brexit). To assess the potential impacts on defence and security of EU, a structured approach involving several methods was used in the analysis, which combines a search of professional publications, factors sensitivity analysis and testing of hypotheses. Based on the analysis, it was evaluated that the departure of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the structures of the European Union will take place without significant impact in the military field and does not pose an immediate threat to the security and defence of EU member states. Nevertheless, in connection with Brexit, there is still a certain risk of negative impacts in this area.

The article describes the reasons that led to the development of the implementation tool for development projects used by the Czech Ministry of Defence to simplify the planning processes and the experience of its users with the tool. Modernization of the army is one of the basic building blocks needed to achieve the goals set by the state's security strategies. A comprehensive approach is necessary to perform many consecutive activities, such as project management, risk management, and others. To streamline the processes needed for the preparation and planning of development projects, the Czech Armed Forces issued a methodology to create an implementation plan for the acquisition of new military equipment in 2021. The purpose of this article is to present the results of the analysis of experience with its annual use in practice.

The article deals with the artillery manual gunnery in accordance with the modernization of the czech artillery. The article describes the results of research aimed at innovating manual (alternative) methods of determining the firing data so that they are applicable on the contemporary battlefield and are compatible with the nature of the data used by artillery within the NATO. The issue of the article is aimed primarily at determining the firing data by the use of meteorological techniques, while presenting the outputs of a comparative analysis of procedures used in the czech artillery with the procedures applied by the US army. The main contribution of the article is a critical evaluation of the approaches of both armies and a proposal for innovation of existing procedures so that the most beneficial requirements are applied and negatives are eliminated.

The article discusses the possibilities of joint deployment of combat unmanned ground vehicles with combat infantry units. It summarizes the deployment of these assets in past and present military operations, including the presentation of deployment experiences available from public sources, and examines the joint deployment of an infantry squad with an unmanned ground combat platform during an attack operation. Using a constructive simulation, it presents the results of the deployment of an infantry squad during an attack operation with and without the support of a combat unmanned ground vehicle. As part of the discussion, he develops the ideas necessary for the cooperation of the unit with an unmanned vehicle. The aim of the article is, among other things, to open a debate in the professional community about the possibilities of effective use of unmanned ground systems to support the activity of combat units in military operations.

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 describes the issue of implementing the Resistance Operating Concept as part of a comprehensive approach to ensuring the defense of the state and its resilience. The basic conditions necessary for the introduction of that instrument are sought, and a comparative analysis of selected European countries that started to build a resistance movement is carried out. The article further describes the strategic definition of the resistance movement in the conditions of the Czech Republic, the legislative definition of the resistance movement and its anchoring in the framework of mental law, and the connection of the resistance movement to individual phases of the conflict. It analyzes the relationship of the resistance movement to individual phases of the conflict and categorizes the actors of the resistance movement, their roles and the methods used. In conclusion, it defines the necessary conditions for the implementation of the resistance movement into the security and defense system of the state.

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 contributes to a more efficient use of the theoretical, technological and application base, especially to the improvement of decision-making processes at the strategic level. It offers a methodological framework for solving the armed forces capability optimization problem by implementing modeling, simulation and operations research tools and theories.

The article addresses the use of social media intelligence (SOCMINT) as a tool for recruiting and selecting souces by foreign intelligence services, with an emphasis on the risks it poses to students in military studies at national military universitiy. It analyzes the specific ways in which SOCMINT enables foreign intelligence agencies to effectively gather personal data and profile potential collaborators from both public and private information shared online. Research conducted among students of the University of Defense and other institutions revealed that military students share comparable types of information on social networks as their civilian peers, making them equally vulnerable to the activities of foreign intelligence services. However, military students are preparing for careers in defense and security, making them a significantly more attractive target for foreign intelligence agencies than other categories of employees.

The article focuses on the concept of crowdsourcing in the social networking environment as a new phenomenon involving civilians in the intelligence process, enabling the use of their intelligence potential during armed conflict. Crowdsourcing of the civilian population is introduced by the example of NATO intervention during the first civil war in Libya. The article presents its use during the intelligence process at the strategic-operational level of command and control of the armed forces. It establishes its possible definition as a collection method of the intelligence process, and as a collection method which is disjunctively separable from similar intelligence collection methods.

Biosafety and biodefense (i.e. all countermeasures preventing the spread of biological agents in the environment and population) are on the regular agenda of states and their militaries. Somewhat aside are global catastrophic biological risks (GCBR), which can destroy human society as a biological species. Although a precise definition of what constitutes a global catastrophic biological risk is still being sought, it can be considered the impact of potential global catastrophic risks (GCR) on the social, economic and biological structure of human existence. This implies that GCBRs are a subset of GCRs. It is also open to discussion whether in the case of GCBRs the risk must necessarily be biological agents, from viruses to humans, or whether anthropogenic threats can also be accepted as risk factors, or what the impact must be for a risk to be included under the designation GCBR.

The assessment of force ratios and battle casualties is a crucial aspect of the military decision-making process. This article evaluates three different tools used by the Army of the Czech Republic at the tactical level: a calculator based on Lanchester's laws, a module within the Battle Information System, and a constructive simulation system. The results indicate that while all tools produce similar outputs, the constructive simulation system offers more accurate estimates of combat losses for both equipment and personnel. Additionally, this system enhances the ability of commanders and staff to adapt to changing scenarios during planning. The primary conclusion is that the constructive simulation system provides a practical and flexible solution for supporting the military decision-making process at the brigade and battalion levels.

The most frequently used methods during strategic documents processing at the Ministry of Defence are group discussion, brainstorming, discussion and analysis of stakeholders. SWOT analysis and other methods are represented in less than a fifth of cases. The research results show that some methods are used in methodologically wrong way, meanwhile, the most common method used is intuition based on experience. Implementation of strategic analysis usually encounters at the Ministry of Defence a lot of barriers. The article describes the results of research in this area and presents some recommendations for improvement, particularly synergistic use of methods called multi-methodology.

Government expenditures allocated for defence are one of the categories comparable between countries to observe and analyse long-term trends. The paper compares the defence budgets of the USA and the Russian Federation between 2000 to 2019 with the aim to analyse potential causes of fluctuations in defence spending. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate that military budgets are dependent on a combination of various factors such as current domestic policy, the economic cycle and global security and economic issues. The work uses significant as historical milestones to analyses their impacts on the dependent variable of military budget. As these, Operation Enduring Freedom (2001), Iraq war (2003), the inauguration of the US Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the economic crisis (2007-2008), the Russian currency crisis (2014) and the Russian annexation of Crimea (2014) were identified.

Experienced experts in military modernization projects use a new generic implementation tool in defence planning to compile a comprehensive implementation plan for acquisitions. A software tool based on MS Excel facilitates the linking of a planning tool to create an implementation plan. The functional analysis matrix created by the software tool is suitable for the evaluation of DOTMLPFI functional areas within individual phases, especially the implementation phase and the evaluation phase. The resulting product is a checklist for the full implementation of a military project describing its life cycle with all major milestones, which respects the Czech Defence Standard and compatibility with NATO doctrine.

IoT devices (sensors, drones, cameras) are gaining more and more emphasis on military operations. The application of IoT elements in the military environment increases situational awareness and supports the acquisition and maintenance of information superiority. The information they provide about the enemy, the area of operations, and the location and status of our soldiers and assets can contribute to the successful execution of operations at the tactical, operational and strategic levels. However, they can also pose serious threats if their vulnerabilities allow the data they collected to leak or they provide access to the info-communication networks used for the enemy. In this article, the author examined the vulnerabilities of these IoT devices using keyword analysis. After drawing conclusions from the analysis of the relevant literature, he compared the results with the general-purpose IoT threats and attacks typical of today, like distributed denial of service attacks, security, software, security and privacy issues.

The aim of the article is to broaden scientific discussion held within the defence and security community on methodological approach to scenario development process. The author brings an innovative look at the concept of modular task force development, which is considered, in his conception, as a result of interconnection between capability requirements arisen from scenario analysis process, and respective type of force units being a part of the current military structure. The author´s approach to task force generation process, illustrated by a case study, is a synthesis of best practices and findings derived from national as well as EU and NATO planning processes. The proposed concept of the task force generation might be perceived as an effective tool for supporting strategic decision-making process.

Laser weapons have long been the subject of debate. The article discusses the potential adoption of laser weapons by infantry units and the future of small firearms. The text analyses these weapons in selected categories that subsequently support the evaluations and the conclusion. If miniaturisation is successfully managed, the comparison reveals an interesting paradox. While laser weapons and firearms do not rival each other as distinct functionalities, given the right conditions, they can actually complement each other and compensate for any disadvantages within their respective categories. Today's complex battlefield is placing ever greater demands on small arms, pushing conventional weapon mechanisms - combined with ammunition that guarantees accuracy and lower recoil, albeit at the expense of penetration - towards the limits of further possible advancement in technology. Improved passive individual protection restricts the wounding potential of pistol ammunition, reducing it to below 150 m for rifle cartridges, while guided ammunition tends to be prohibitively expensive. Under the right conditions, laser weapons could compensate for any of these drawbacks.

The article outlines the outcome of a comprehensive researche aiming at the enhancement of decision making within the defence and operational planning processes. Both processes differ in purpose, neverthelles they are challenged by the very same problém to find solutions with maximum operational effectiveness of armed forces capabilities at minimum cost to achieve objectives. It applies constructive simulation namely the software instruments of MASA SWORD and assess its potential to support the process of capability requirements identification and validation of potential alternatives to achieve objectives. It provides reasonable evidence that constructive simulation is a valuable instrument to support the evidence based decision making within in the processes of defence planning and operations planning proces. Constructive simulation allows to identify the most suitable solutions in terms of both operational effectiveness and costs.

The war game is a respected tool for commanders' decision-making. Its preparation, execution, and evaluation of results require precise organization and a considerable time commitment. However, the time aspect is a limiting factor in the current dynamic era to a rather objectified evaluation of the variants of operation execution. The article does not describe the process of wargame preparation, it focuses on the execution phase, where it presents the use of a particular simulation system in wargames and under which theoretical conditions the results of combat simulation can be considered valid. It also evaluates the time efficiency of its use in a wargame. It has been experimentally verified that the tested simulation system can be used for a wargame especially in the accelerated simulation mode. The configuration of the computing system was also verified, which allowed a substantial acceleration of the simulation run of the wargame scenario.

The article aims to identify the dependence of military expenditures and selected economic determinants on the example of the V4 countries in the years 1999-2020. The following are selected as economic determinants: the size of the gross domestic product, the rate of inflation, the debt and deficit of the government sector and unemployment. Correlation analysis proved the expected relationship between the gross domestic product and the military expenditure of Hungary and especially Poland. The relationship between military spending and unemployment was confirmed for Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, the expected relationship between military spending and government debt for the Czech Republic. The linear regression model confirmed the positive effect of the gross domestic product on military expenditure in the case of Poland, the effect of the increase in military expenditure due to rising inflation in Hungary and the negative effect of increasing state indebtedness in the case of the Czech Republic. At the same time, the results did not confirm the uniformity of the factors affecting the size of the military factors in the analyzed V4 countries.

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 paper deals with teaching of operations research at University of Defence and its support by means of using selected software for linear programming. The main aim of the paper is to demonstrate possibilities of using the add-in program Solver in Microsoft Excel and Linear Program Solver in teaching operations research via solving an illustrative example of linear programming problem. The paper further introduces operations research as a scientific discipline and a course taught at University of Defence. Last but not least, it discusses advantages and drawbacks of introducing software into teaching of operations research.