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This article discusses the transformation of the information environment, which allows an adversary to exploit cyber-enabled psychological and information operations. It presents the options currently available to an adversary to exploit the vulnerability of the information environment, chiefly the cognitive vulnerabilities of target groups. Thus, hostile interests are often pursued through manipulation, using disinformation, propaganda, algorithms and artificial intelligence. In the light of these developments, the article defines a society-centric approach, in which societal and human resilience are emphasised.

The article is a creative elaboration and proposal for optimization of selected activities of the human resources management process in the Ministry of Defense, which have a fundamental influence on achieving the set goals of personnel policy of the Ministry of Defense. The article builds on the analysis of the "status quo" of the human resource management in the Ministry of Defense, carried out with the help of dimensional and stakeholder analysis, sector analysis PESTLE-M, and questionnaire survey with a sample of officers (students of career courses KVD and KGŠ). It also uses the results of capability-based scenario, on which a prediction of the future needs of personnel and financial resources is calculated and demonstrated. For selected activities of the human resources management process their possible content is discussed, as well as the effects (or the necessity to set them accordingly) of internal and external process controllers.

This article deals with objectives of EU BGs, required abilities and possible employment, namely from the legal point of view. Last but not least, there are mentioned relations between NATO and EU BG. Military capabilities of the EU are closely tied not only with the second pillar of the ?Maastricht Temple? (Common Foreign And Security Policy), but they are united with the activities of the EU as a whole (with all three pillars). The EU should have the potential to carry out independent military actions to solve international crises. The Battle Group is the smallest independent military unit (group) capable of being deployed in the area of operation. It is a combined arms grouping, the exact composition will vary according to the tactical requirement at the time. One of new BG?s tasks will be separation of parties by force. The ACR has earmarked the same units both for NATO and the EU led operations. This future deployment is specified in the current Czech Military Strategy and related documents. Now we are preparing the documents for building up common Czech and Slovak Battle Group (EU CZE/SVK BG).

Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) weapons still represent a relevant threat despite international treaties and regulations. International projects like the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) of European Union (EU) appears as a suitable way of the further development when considered both complexity and expensiveness of the countermeasures to the CBRN. In this work, basic principles of PESCO, limitations, opportunities and expected directions of innovations were searched. The final recommendations on PESCO projects in the CBRN field are founded on the reached findings. Recommendations and conclusions on limited PESCO efficacy on one side and opportunity to resolve weakness of the Army of the Czech Republic (AČR) in the CBRN by collaboration in the EU on the other were particularly described in this paper. Without the collaboration, the AČR will hardly reflect the progress on CBRN defense.

Russia's actions in the Ukraine have changed the security situation in the Baltic region, which makes NATO's long-term presence in Latvia essential for the Latvian Republic. The impacts of Russian actions on Latvian defence policy are discussed in the paper by Mr Janis Berzinš,Managing Director of the Centre for Security and Defence Research, National Defence Academy of Latvia, in Policy Paper, No. 2, 2014. It is a new way of intervention, new-generation warfare, without the employment of armed combats, using mostly influence and coercion, by means of covert operations. Abridged and adapted. The original English text is available at http://www.naa.mil.lv/~/media/NAA/AZPC/Publikacijas/PP%2002-2014.ashx. Even though the study came into being in April 2014, the editors regard it worthy to be published, being timeless and with general validity.

This thoroughly elaborated paper deals with the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF). Similar missions represent NATO's global interests in problems of word's security. Afghanistan is the very place where new warfare methods are tested, new ways of combat come into existence. After September 11, 2001, American administration declared the war to global terrorism - GWOT (Global War on Terror), the first theatre of GWOT became Afghanistan. From military point of view, it was unambiguous success, to a large degree, it succeeded even politically. But Afghanistan was negatively affected by the situation in Iraq. Afghanistan is far off being stabilized. Local warlords, tribal chiefs, called anti-coalition militants (ACMs), avoid regular warfare, they use raids, sabotages, acts of terror, provocations. Coalition units use e.g. PSYOP operations, as a way how to implement norms based deterrence.

The article deals with the issue of identifying required material reserves, also referred to as strategic or emergency reserves. These reserves are managed by state authority as part of national crisis preparedness. The article explores how scenarios can be used as a method for planning, i.e. determining adequate, realistic, and affordable material reserves. A scenario-based analysis, well proven in the defence planning domain, is identified as a method offering a high degree of analytical rigor and traceability of resulting requirements. Selected planning scenarios clearly must reflect national threat/hazard and risk assessments. They also have to reflect other important national policies, such as those governing economy, industry, health care, or environment. The illustrative conduct of the initial steps of the proposed method is demonstrated using Latvia's security policy circumstances.

The goal of this review article is to briefly describe the development trends in the conceptualization of the phenomenon of hybrid warfare and to try a basic comparison of the key features of twenty important concepts with emphasis on selected Western, Russian and Chinese theoretical concepts. A substantial part of the article also deals with a closer characterization of hybrid warfare with the intention of clarifying the possible relationship of this type of warfare to the activities of the Czech Armed Forces. In connection with the importance of hybrid warfare and hybrid threats, the article is supplemented with essential recommendations that the Czech Republic and the Czech Armed Forces should reflect. The emphasis on content and the above arguments confirm that looking at the phenomenon of hybrid action and warfare as a novelty is very debatable. Rather than a new concept of warfare, it is a newly accentuated term "hybrid" describing long-known combinations of power tools used.

Similar to other fields, also in the military one, the Artificial Intelligence has become recently an evident solution for optimizing specific processes and activities. Therefore, this research paper aims to highlight the potential uses of Artificial Intelligence in the military operations carried out by the Land Forces. In this regard, analysing the framework of the operations process and applying suitable research methodology, the main findings are related to AI's contributions in optimizing commander's decisions during the progress of planning and execution. On the other hand, picturing the AI upgrated combat power of the Land Forces is another significant result of this study.

The book Paradigms of Military Tactics, compiled by Pavel Zůna, deals with the principles of fighting at the tactical level on more than 300 pages.

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 Polish armed forces (Wojsko Polskie) are continuously redeveloped. This article written by Brig. Szymonik, the head of Science and School Department at the Ministry of National Defence, deals with general aspects of this process. The problem concerns not only of the Polish military by itself, it covers even all Polish defence industries. After entering the Polish Republic into common world's market, Polish defence industries must adapt themselves into this competitive environment. It is being done with the use of several international agencies, WEAG (Western European Armaments Group), IPC (NATO Industrial Planning Committee), and EAA (European Armaments Agency). He is a supporter of higher military expenditures, as the necessary prerequisite for introducing modern technologies into both defence plants and Polish armed forces.

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 article focuses on identifying the key factors of human resources within the Czech state needed to carry out mobilization of the armed forces in case of a military conflict. It primarily answers the questions of whether these factors are sufficient and can be used effectively in the mobilization process. It addresses the issue of military records, sustainability of military reserves and their profitability. It also deals with the influence of secondary factors on the possibilities of creating and training reserves, especially the motivation of citizens to defend the state and the physical fitness of the mobilized population.

Light Infantry units are primarily equipped with the Iveco light armored vehicles in the Army of the Czech Republic. Similar type of vehicles was acquired by the armies of some other NATO members. Armored LMVs represent a new category of equipment and no specific tactical procedures have yet been created. The aim of the text was to develop general tactical light infantry procedures for the current training needs of units with Iveco LMVs. In the text, combat battle drills on vehicles and tactical procedures for the use of light units equipped with the LMV Iveco have been created. Combat deployment experience and results of live simulation were main source of information for development of LMV tactics and procedures. Presented procedures can be used for training of units equipped with LMV Iveco. The use of light armored vehicles also showed the design limits of this technique. LMVs Iveco cannot fulfill the role of primary vehicle of light infantry units on a conventional battlefield mainly due to their low level of endurance.

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.

This study deals with long-term monitoring of physical fitness of soldiers, namely members of the 31st Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Regiment in order to determine whether the annual fitness test has rising trend, or in another words, whether the military service physical training process is fittingly effective. The study was carried out by comparing the assessment of physical fitness each year 2012-2019. The monitored group consisted of 316 professional soldiers, who participated in this assessment regularly, without interruption in the same disciplines.
Due to the managed long-term military physical training process, overall improvement in the strength and endurance disciplines throughout the monitoring period took place.
Based on the acquired data, it may be stated that the annual testing showed rising trend and thus the efficiency of the in-service physical training process proved to be good and appropriate.

The aim of the article is to compare the term and definition of "Intelligence Support" used in the Czech Armed Forces with related terms used in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, United States Army and Slowak Ground Forces. The article proposes updated Czech terms and definitions. The article can serve as a basis for a next discussion, for a dictionary processing, it will help intelligence staffs in orientation in intelligence terminology and it improves interoperability within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and in foreign missions.

Review of the Author's Monography PROCHÁZKA, Josef and Pavel NEČAS. Approaches to Security and Defence Strategy Formulation.

The article deals with providing situational awareness in operations at the operational level of command in the context of the information environment, the current nature of which significantly affects the execution of this capability. It examines the influence of three selected aspects - information overload, the expansion of advanced information technology and the growing importance of the cyber domain - on generating, maintaining and sharing situational awareness in planning and conduct of operations. It identifies and characterizes the respective sub-capabilities within the information area, necessary for operational headquarters to effectively provide situational awareness, and outline possible ways to develop these capabilities in terms of internal processes, technical equipment and personnel.

The paper analyses differences in remuneration of professional soldiers in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic between 1999 and 2020. This structural analysis focuses on changes in respective remuneration systems and their design. Results of the presented research enable to identify differences in the development of remuneration of professional soldiers after the split of the Czechoslovak Federation in 1993. The paper submits development of the amounts of salary for selected military ranks, their comparison and relation to general trends in domestic labor market and relation to average costs of living in respective countries. Between 2016 and 2019, salaries of professional soldiers grew higher in the Czech Republic than in the Slovak Republic, in 2020, the pay gap is already narrowing.

During the period between 2016 and 2019, the efficiency of language courses was scrutinized by invention methods. In 2019, the language requirements were set to 14 958 positions in the Czech Armed Forces (60.69 %). Out of the given number of positions, the language requirement was met by only 6 414 professional soldiers, i.e. 42.88 %. The results of the language courses vary a lot depending on the required level of language proficiency; the courses designed to prepare the learners for SLP 1111 and SLP 2222 had the success rate around 60 %, however, the success rate of the courses for SLP 3333 was rather lower (38 %). Out of five groups of factors affecting the success rate, the relative significance of 22 factors was assessed. Most of the critically significant factors concerned the organization of language education; some of the critically significant factors were as follows: placement testing, flexibility of the syllabus and familiarization with the exam format and assessment criteria.

The article deals with the evaluation of military expenditures of European Union's four selected countries in the period of 2001-2008. Among examined countries belong the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia. The term military expenditures is used by many users, so the article defines first this term and also sources from which the authoress collected data for evaluation. The main source of statistical data about military expenditures is the Stockholm international institute, namely its research yearbooks.

The article deals with the process of identification of competencies for commanders in leading units in military operations. The used methodology based on combined approach founded on selected competency rosters and its further modification seemed to be relevant and applicable in the Czech Armed Forces conditions. Military officer's profiles anchored in the EU Commission Database for Armed Forces and in the EU Sectoral Qualifications Framework for Military Officer Profession have been proven as the most relevant frameworks of competencies. Both are formulated and structured to be as generic as possible for all officers regardless of their specialization. They were established on current theories and incorporate extensive amount of entries from various national sources. The resulting list of 24 generic competencies, selected from a total of 69 competencies analyzed, represents a possible example of a set of requirements imposed on the Czech Armed Forces officers.

This article studies the current stage of development of armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle technology in Turkey, within the context of the current media attention caused by its deployment in various conflicts. Authors first provide a classification framework for surveillance and armed drones. Text proceeds with an overview of the technology and its military use. The core of the text focuses on Turkey's past and present use of armed drones. Authors analyse the current stage of Turkey's armed drone development production and export destinations. Furthermore, operational use by Turkey or other parties is discussed. Authors conclude by comparing current generation of Turkish drones to those deployed by the United States, highlighting technological edge on the side of the US, as well as continuing dependency of Turkey's main drone systems on foreign components.

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 new ten-year defence strategy of the Czech Republic has been approved. The document stresses that despite the continuing recession, our state should not allow the military being weakened by further reduction of resources. This could worsen the quality of the military and weaken the Czech Republic's credibility in the international community. There is also the risk of the financial, organisational and personnel destabilisation of the Czech defence system that would bring about a loss of the quality of military personnel, a decayed prestige of the military service, an erosion of the state military capabilities. The new defence strategy is not a cure-all medicine. By its adoption the real