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The article describes attributes will influence character of modern warfighting and presents the basic approach to prepare commanders and leaders of "new generation". The operational environment describes determinants and characteristic of today's and future warfighting. Technological development as booster, change the tools and the procedures but not the nature of war. Level of training and leadership quality multiplies combat power. The key findings and recommendations support fundamental idea of ability to lead and manage hybrid systems in volatile multi-dimensional environment, using various tools and sources, appropriate to specific environment and specific tactical level mission, stressed in last chapter as result of this study. The article´s aim is support discussion, which directions we will adapt currently ongoing or newly creating study programs, preparing new generation of warriors - leaders.

The selection of optimal weapon systems is crucial for national defense. Traditional empirical methods struggle to address the complexities of modern warfare. This article explores the potential of constructive simulation for informed decision-making in this domain. Simulating tactical operations with complex variables, such as terrain, enemy actions, and system interoperability, provides valuable insights into weapon effectiveness. This enables the optimization of acquisitions in line with strategic goals. Design simulation allows for the exploration of factors difficult to test comparison of armament configurations, analysis of enemy tactics, and optimization of unit composition and deployment, saving costs and time. Simulation enables the safe exploration of even high-risk scenarios.

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.

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 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.

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.

The article deals with the possibility of using simulation technologies in the training of students of the University of Defence in tactical training and seeks to answer the question whether the use of these means brings demonstrable effectiveness by means of an experiment. First-year students in a Field Training course were randomly divided into 42 sections of approximately equal numbers and then assigned to 3 categories based on their use of live and virtual simulation. All groups were assigned points for a specific tactical activity during the final exercise. The total scores of all groups were subjected to a subsequent statistical investigation using a one-factor analysis of variance on the data to examine whether there were statistically significant differences between the groups. Although students' use of modern simulation technology had a perceived positive effect on improving the quality of training, there was no evidence of statistically significant differences between the groups studied using statistical methods. However, the results of the experiment do show to some extent that some differences do exist between the groups and therefore leaves some opportunity to conduct similar, or more extensive research, in an effort to promote the attractiveness of the training process to military school students.

The article examines infiltration and influence operations targeting members of the Active Reserves of the Czech Armed Forces as a specific non-conventional risk factor for critical infrastructure protection. As a bridge between civilian and military spheres, the Active Reserve is exposed to psychological and informational pressures affecting loyalty and operational readiness. The paper summarizes theoretical approaches to the insider threat phenomenon, identifies human-factor vulnerabilities, and compares the Czech framework with selected NATO, EU, and U.S. models. It concludes with recommendations for preventive measures focused on education, cognitive resilience, and integrated risk management within national defense and critical infrastructure protection.

The article addresses the issue of information environment defence in the current security context, with a special focus on cognitive warfare as one of the key and rapidly developing challenges of recent years. The aim of this overview article is to place this phenomenon within a broader security-strategic framework of information environment defence and to describe how this area is conceptually and institutionally approached in the Czech Republic and in selected NATO Allies – specifically in the United Kingdom, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, and Slovakia. The article is primarily based on publicly available strategic and conceptual documents and official policies of individual countries. On this basis, the article identifies the basic common features and differences in their approaches to information environment defence, while also drawing conclusions about some future challenges in this area.

This article analyses the current state of international humanitarian law (IHL) considering the armed conflict in Ukraine. It explores the theoretical framework of IHL, the typology of the conflict, recent legal developments, and their practical impacts. Special attention is given to the failures of international law in protecting civilians, the limitations of legal enforcement, and proposals for improving the system's effectiveness. The aim is to contribute to scholarly debate on the future of legal regulation in armed conflicts.

Leadership and its styles have been in the spotlight for many years. The changing military environment and demands on army readiness bring new questions and perspectives to leadership. Leaders now face constant changes and specifications of the new modern era. Concerning these changes and transformations in society and the Army, there are new demands on soldiers and leaders at all levels of the Army of the Czech Republic. This paper provides insight and muse about both transactional and transformational leadership styles and investigates an approach to these styles by Czech military students. This paper aims to identify what leadership style Czech military students prefer at the University of Defence. This research focused on evaluating the personal characteristics required for a leadership position. To verify the relevance of the gained results, we employed paired t-test.

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

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 language training within the Ministry of Defence [MoD] of the Czech Republic is primarily focused on English. However, in accordance with the Concept of Personnel Training for the Needs of the MoD, the MoD provides language training in other foreign languages as well. The language teaching is the responsibility of the Language Centre of the University of Defence Brno [CJV UO] and includes English, French, German and Russian. The aim of this article is to compare the activities of the CJV UO with similar language centres in the defence departments of Germany, Austria and France and to present the teaching of French, German and Russian within the MoD through examples of good practice. In the context of the current geopolitical situation, the teaching of French, German and Russian becomes more important, and the CJV UO responds flexibly to the demands of the MoD regarding the provision of the teaching of these languages including professional language and electronic teaching support.

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

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

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 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 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.

The article deals with the possibilities of protecting the outer perimeter of static military facilities using ground-based unmanned systems that can complement the already existing protective elements. The conclusions reached and theoretical assumptions were experimentally verified in the field during the protection of a small base, using UGS Taros Furbo and Tactical Decision Support System calculations. The protection routes calculated by the system were then practically implemented by dismounted patrols and autonomous UGS Taros Furbo, focusing on terrain traversability and time of overcoming. The main objective of the paper is to present to the military public the current possibilities of deploying UGS Taros Furbo in the protection of static military facilities such as command posts or bases. Their use can significantly reduce the requirements for the deployment of dismounted patrols to protect the outer perimeter.

Security and defence issues have always been the subject of scientific and artistic interest. The topicality of the researched issues is especially emphasized in the conditions of changing the concepts of security and bringing them from the traditional level to a level reflecting the modern reality. The article attempts to review the genesis and development of the security concept by presenting related and fundamental concepts, related and synonymous terms of the term "security", and various levels of security. The authors try to briefly describe the problem, which is reflected in a number of Bulgarian and international scientific and legislative sources, and which reflects the research purpose of the presented work.

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

The article deals with the formation of artillery in the Czechoslovak legions in Russia. Using information drawn from contemporary sources and books from the 1930s, it presents the basic milestones that were at the birth of this important part of the Czechoslovak legions.

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.

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.

The paper deals with an insurgent strategic concept "leaderless resistance". It was elaborated by US intelligence officer Colonel Ulius Louis Amoss. It is used by various insurgent actors and it is researched within the context of insurgency and counterinsurgency and interconnected issues (extremism, terrorism etc). The author of this contribution deals with the development tendencies and with the strengths and weaknesses of this strategy (including the derived concepts as "leaderless Jihad" etc.). Its adaptation in the era of modern political and hybrid warfare is explained. Challenges for successful countering from the point of view of security architecture (intelligence and law enforcement agencies, army, non-.state actors) are discussed.

The main goal of this article is to depict the role of postcolonial theory of neo-colonialism in the development of the security situation in Afghanistan. The introductory part is devoted to defining the postcolonial approach. This part is followed by a definition of neo-colonialism as a modern form of continuation of colonialism. The next part is focused on the role of neo-colonialism itself in Afghanistan, in relation to the influence and interests of the USA. In addition, the paper outlines the main security implications as well as the distortions of Afghanistan's regional actors (Pakistan and India) as a result of US engagement in the region. The final part summarizes the essential information in the context of the theoretical requirements and signs of neo-colonialism in relation to the activities of the US and other state actors in Afghanistan and the region.

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

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.