Schlagwort: Update Führung

Ist das gute Führung – wenn nichts nach Plan läuft?

[YouTube, 21.05.2026, Schweizer Armee Podcast]

Im Schweizer Armee Podcast sprechen Dr. Patrick Hofstetter, Thomas Vogel und Reto Wegmann über ihr Buch «Auftrag. Mensch. Organisation. Führung zwischen Chaos und Perfektion.» – und darüber, wie Führung unter realen Bedingungen funktioniert. Drei unterschiedliche Hintergründe – Militär, Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft – treffen aufeinander. Entstanden ist ein Gespräch, das nicht nur inhaltlich überzeugt, sondern auch durch seine Dynamik. Man spürt, dass die Autoren harmonieren und sich ergänzen. Es geht um Entscheidungen unter Unsicherheit, um Verantwortung und um den Menschen im Zentrum jeder Organisation. Auch eine Anekdote über eine Punkband hat ihren Platz. Weil Führung nicht nur Theorie ist, sondern gelebte Praxis. Ein Gespräch, das zum Nachdenken anregt und unterhält.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ73amTlcD4

Elemente (neuen) militärischen Denkens

[Stratos 1-26, Schweizer Armee]

In diesen 200 Seiten befasst sich stratos unter anderem mit der Wichtigkeit von Data Literacy (23ff.), den Konsequenzen von KI für die militärische Führungsausbildung (108ff.) sowie den Vorteilen, welche die Etablierung einer Wargaming-Kultur innerhalb der Schweizer Armee mit sich bringen könnte (159ff.).

Link D: https://www.vtg.admin.ch/de/stratos-1-26

Link F: https://www.vtg.admin.ch/fr/stratos-1-26f

On Rebooting an Army

[Defence Horizon Journal, 02.02.2026, Alexander Schäbler]

Schäbler describes how decades of peace and stabilisation missions have led to a decay in the Bundeswehr’s warfighting capabilities. He argues that even after the so-called “Zeitenwende”, institutional inertia leads to resistance to the measures necessary for the Bundeswehr to reaquire its lost warfighting capabilities. To explore an alternative, Schäbler conducts a thought experiment. What if, instead of trying to reform a Bundeswehr resisting change, a parallel force were built which could eventually replace the existing Bundeswehr? Whilst this thought experiment may be rather provocative, it can offer some food for thought.

Link: https://tdhj.org/blog/post/rebooting-bundeswehr/

One Operator, Many Platforms: Unlocking the Full Potential of Attritable Mass

[RUSI, 06.03.2026, Richard Drake]

Whilst aerial drones are seeing extensive use in the Russo-Ukrainian War, they are also increasingly common on the world’s other battlefields. As drones continue to proliferate and drone operators face growing risks, the current one-to-one model, in which one operator controls one drone, is gradually becoming less effective. Instead, armed forces are progressing towards platforms operated on a one-to-many basis, which allows one operator to supervise many drones and delegate routine tasks.

Link: https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/one-operator-many-platforms-unlocking-full-potential-attritable-mass

Chasing True AI Autonomy: From Legacy Mindsets to Battlefield Dominance

[War on the Rocks, 15.12.2025, Vitaliy Goncharuk]

Goncharuk argues that Western defence debates often misuse “autonomy”, conflating remote control and GPS dependence with genuine intelligent independence. Using lessons from Ukraine’s electronic-warfare environment, he makes the case that the US and allies need “true AI autonomy”: systems that can perceive, decide, and act with onboard sensors and algorithms when data links, GPS, and human supervision are degraded or denied. He emphasises that enabling true AI autonomy requires not just individual platforms, but an entire ecosystem that fosters and does not impede innovation. Regarding the platforms, they should be modular and upgradable, so that they can evolve on 18-to-24-month cycles and hence allow for adaptation. 

Link: https://warontherocks.com/2025/12/chasing-true-ai-autonomy-from-legacy-mindsets-to-battlefield-dominance/

A Guide to Collaborating With AI in the Military Classroom

[War on the Rocks, 23.10.2025, Matthew Woessner]

Woessner argues that military education should neither ban AI nor normalise it as a shortcut. He contrasts the more permissive “embrace it” approach (James Lacey’s “Peering into the Future of Artificial Intelligence in the Military Classroom”) with a middle way: AI is useful, but it can erode judgment if students see the AI’s output as objective and don’t question it. To reap the benefits of AI whilst reducing the risk of cognitive offloading and the delegation of decision-making to AI, Woessner suggests teaching students to critically evaluate AI outputs, while AI-free exams ensure students still train critical skills such as writing and reasoning. When using AI in a military context, make sure to never upload confidential information.

Link Woessner: https://warontherocks.com/2025/10/a-guide-to-collaborating-with-and-not-surrendering-to-ai-in-the-military-classroom/

Link Lacey: https://warontherocks.com/2025/04/peering-into-the-future-of-artificial-intelligence-in-the-military-classroom/

Über das «Update Führung»

Das Update Führung ist eine wiederkehrende Rubrik des Newsletters Leader’s Digest. Dieser Newsletter entsteht in Kooperation des Leadership Campus der Schweizer Armee und der Dozentur Führung und Kommunikation der Militärakademie an der ETH Zürich. Wenn Sie Leader’s Digest noch nicht abonniert haben, finden Sie unter folgendem Link weitere Informationen sowie das Formular zur Anmeldung. Falls Sie Lesenswertes zu Command, Leadership oder Management entdecken, würden wir uns freuen, wenn Sie dies mit uns teilen. Gerne nehmen wir Tipps für die kommende Ausgabe von Leader’s Digest via leadersdigest@leadershipcampus.ch entgegen.

Alle bisherigen Artikel aus der Rubrik «Update Führung» finden Sie archiviert im Archiv Update Führung.

Complex Adaptive Systems: New Ways to Study Officer Training

[YouTube, 22.08.2026, Military History Not Visualized]

Warum modelliert man Kriegführung, statt nur aus der Militärgeschichte zu lernen? Oberst i Gst Patrick Hofstetter argumentiert, dass die verschiedenen Perspektiven sich ergänzen. Historische Vergleiche, qualitative und quantitative Forschung sowie Simulationen machen je andere Aspekte sichtbar. Gerade im Krieg fehlen oft verlässliche Daten. Agentenbasierte Modelle können deshalb helfen, wiederkehrende Muster und Wechselwirkungen zu erkennen. Das Gespräch führt von Selbstähnlichkeit und Flankenschutz bis zu einer sehr praktischen Frage: Wie lassen sich Ausbildung, Erholung und Einsatz von Truppen sinnvoll verbinden?

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsXad6BEt4k

Starke Führung ohne starke Führer: Was die Schweiz von zeitgemässer militärischer Führung lernen kann

[Sichtweisen Schweiz, 29.09.2026, Patrick Hofstetter]

Klare Aufträge, Respekt vor Menschen und handlungsfähige Organisationen: Militärische Führung verbindet, was in Krisen leicht auseinanderfällt. Davon kann nicht nur die Schweizer Armee lernen. In diesem Meinungsartikel legt der Autor dar, dass starke Führung nicht zwingend starke Führer braucht – und dass die Schweiz dies und vieles mehr von zeitgemässer militärischer Führung lernen kann, um für die die nächste Krise besser gewappnet zu sein.

Link: https://sichtweisenschweiz.ch/gesellschaft/starke-fuehrung-ohne-starke-fuehrer-was-die-schweiz-von-zeitgemaesser-militaerischer-fuehrung-lernen-kann/

OSINT at Home

[YouTube, Benjamin Strick]

True to Swiss Armed Forces operational guidelines «Augen vor Bewegung», any movement must be preceded by reconnaissance. Open-source intelligence (OSINT) can help soldiers gain the required situational awareness and can therefore support individual training and mission planning. Exploring the various functions of Google Earth Pro can serve as a useful starting point. For this purpose, a great resource is the «OSINT at Home» series on the YouTube channel «Bendobrown» of the OSINT investigator Benjamin Strick.

Important: As open-source information can be outdated, wrong or incomplete, it should be used carefully and in combination with other sources.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW96515QG6Y&list=PLrFPX1Vfqk3ehZKSFeb9pVIHqxqrNW8Sy

Taiwan Is a NIGHTMARE for Drones – My Experience

[YouTube, 25.01.2026, Civ Div]

A lot of ink has been spilled about the effectiveness of aerial drones in the Russian-Ukrainian War. These wartime innovations and adaptations in Ukraine have prompted analysts to debate to what extent other armed forces can extract “lessons learned” from the ongoing war, and to what extent those lessons can solely be applied to the unique context of the Russian-Ukrainian War. A US-American who volunteered in the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SSO), and has also worked with the Taiwanese Armed Forces, now provides his viewers with insights on the factors in Taiwan which would force drone warfare to be conducted differently. He mentions how Ukraine is a country with vast open fields separated by tree lines, and how Taiwan features more mountainous and densely vegetated areas which carry implications for signal range, the effectiveness of enemy camouflage and so on. As parts of Switzerland are similarly mountainous to Taiwan, some of the video’s insights are relevant for the Swiss Armed Forces.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sMWyFb_UrI

The Heart of War: Ukraine’s Key Battlefield System

[CEPA, 16.03.2026, David Kirichenko]

Ukrainian aerial drones and increasingly also ground drones are gathering a lot of international attention. Yet in this article, Kirichenko argues that this is just one part of the picture; hardware is one thing, software the other. The author stresses how important software such as the battlefield management system “Delta” is in coordinating hardware effectively. Delta is crucial for situational awareness and near real-time command. It helps with targeting and avoiding friendly fire. Moreover, integrated AI capabilities mean kill chains can further be shortened. Overall, the article shows how hardware is just part of the picture, and that for hardware to be truly effective it needs to be well-integrated within the larger system.

Link: https://cepa.org/article/the-heart-of-war-ukraines-key-battlefield-system/

Guns Not Missiles Will Defeat the Drone

[CEPA, 21.10.2025, David Brookfield]

Brookfield argues that Europe has invested too heavily in expensive missile-centric air defence when trying to solve the problem of cheap, mass-produced drones. He argues that low-cost drones can be produced and financed on a much larger scale than advanced interceptor missiles. He mentions the Falklands War and the current Russian-Ukrainian war to argue that a sustainable defence against massed attacks combines gun-based air defences with interceptor drones.

Link: https://cepa.org/article/guns-not-missiles-will-defeat-the-drone/

Über das «Update Führung»

Das Update Führung ist eine wiederkehrende Rubrik des Newsletters Leader’s Digest. Dieser Newsletter entsteht in Kooperation des Leadership Campus der Schweizer Armee und der Dozentur Führung und Kommunikation der Militärakademie an der ETH Zürich. Wenn Sie Leader’s Digest noch nicht abonniert haben, finden Sie unter folgendem Link weitere Informationen sowie das Formular zur Anmeldung. Falls Sie Lesenswertes zu Command, Leadership oder Management entdecken, würden wir uns freuen, wenn Sie dies mit uns teilen. Gerne nehmen wir Tipps für die kommende Ausgabe von Leader’s Digest via leadersdigest@leadershipcampus.ch entgegen.

Neu: Alle bisherigen Artikel aus der Rubrik «Update Führung» finden Sie archiviert im Archiv Update Führung.

Military Leadership in Extreme Situations: An International Perspective

[Springer, 2026, Sarah von Felten (ed.)]


The volume examines military leadership in extreme situations from an international comparative perspective. Contributions from sixteen countries and regions address how armed forces conceptualise leadership and prepare military personnel for demanding operational environments. The chapters cover themes such as decision-making under uncertainty, resilience, adaptability, ethics and followership, while considering the influence of different institutional, cultural, and security contexts.

Link: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-25937-0

L’art de la conduite entre chaos et perfection


[NZZ Libro, 2026, Patrick Hofstetter, Thomas Vogel, Reto Wegmann]


Comment conduire lorsque le quotidien oscille entre chaos et complexité tout en exigeant précision et fiabilité? Les auteurs proposent un cadre pratique qui articule trois perspectives complémentaires: la mission, l’humain et l’organisation. Modèles, outils et exemples permettent aux cadres de structurer leur action et de mieux faire face aux tensions inhérentes à la conduite. Cette édition est une traduction de l’ouvrage allemand «Auftrag. Mensch. Organisation.» des mêmes auteurs, adaptée géographiquement au lectorat francophone par des exemples et des références spécifiques.


Link: https://www.nzz-libro.ch/produkt/l-art-de-la-conduite-entre-chaos-et-perfection-9783039800827-t-19973

Individuelle Katastrophenvorsorge: Gefährdungswahrnehmung, Informationsbedürfnisse und persönliche Vorsorge der Schweizer Bevölkerung

[CSS ETH, April 2026, Simon Aebi, Jurgena Kamberaj]

Das Center for Security Studies an der ETH hat im Rahmen eines Risk & Resilience Reports eine Studie zu individueller Katastrophenvorsorge durchgeführt, die auf einer repräsentativen Umfrage basiert. Die Studie zeigt unter anderem, dass sich die individuelle Katastrophenvorsorge im Vergleich zu den letzten Umfragen in 2011 und 2017 weiterentwickelt hat, diese jedoch auch heute noch zu unsystematisch ist. Die Autoren der Studie schlagen vor, diesem Mangel an systematischer individueller Katastrophenvorsorge mit effektiver Kommunikation entgegenzutreten, sowie Katastrophenwarnungen via Mobilfunk (Cell Broadcast) zu ermöglichen. Die vollständige Studie können Sie auf dem folgenden Link als PDF-Datei herunterladen.

Link: https://css.ethz.ch/ueber-uns/CSS-news/2026/04/individuelle-katastrophenvorsorge-gefaehrdungswahrnehmung-informationsbeduerfnisse-und-persoenliche-vorsorge-der-schweizer-bevoelkerung.html

The End of Audacity? Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Command

[Modern War Institute, 24.12.2025, Antonio Salinas, David V. Gioe]

Salinas and Gioe highlight the role audacity played in successful military operations, and note that military officers should beware of “algorithmic caution”, where a lack of AI’s approval leads to a lack of decisive action. The authors use historic examples such as the D-Day landings in Normandy to showcase how Clausewitz’ moral forces and other factors shape the success of military operations; they argue that as AI struggles with those non-quantifiable factors, it is crucial that officers see AI as a tool to help decision-making, rather than to look to AI for leadership itself.

Link: https://mwi.westpoint.edu/the-end-of-audacity-artificial-intelligence-and-the-future-of-command/

Ukrainian computer game-style drone attack system goes viral

[Guardian, 03.11.2025, Robert Booth]

In this article Booth describes how Ukraine «gamified» and decentralised procurement processes. Since 2024, a various number of points are distributed to Ukrainian units when they destroy a Russian target, and those points can then be used by said unit to order more equipment on the Brave1 marketplace, which has been called «Amazon-for-War». As the distributed points per target can be adapted and hence incentives can be shifted, the point system can be adapted to changing battlefield priorities.

Link: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/03/ukrainian-computer-game-style-drone-attack-system-goes-viral

Austria’s Neutrality At 70 — Is it Still Fit for Purpose?

[ICDS, 27.10.2025, Felix Gasper]

Debates on neutrality are not unique to Switzerland, and are also ongoing in Switzerland’s eastern neighbour. Whereas Austria is part of the EU and Switzerland is not, the similarities of the neutrality debates in both countries are striking.

Link: https://icds.ee/en/austrias-neutrality-at-70-is-it-still-fit-for-purpose/

Über das «Update Führung»

Das Update Führung ist eine wiederkehrende Rubrik des Newsletters Leader’s Digest. Dieser Newsletter entsteht in Kooperation des Leadership Campus der Schweizer Armee und der Dozentur Führung und Kommunikation der Militärakademie an der ETH Zürich. Wenn Sie Leader’s Digest noch nicht abonniert haben, finden Sie unter folgendem Link weitere Informationen sowie das Formular zur Anmeldung. Falls Sie Lesenswertes zu Command, Leadership oder Management entdecken, würden wir uns freuen, wenn Sie dies mit uns teilen. Gerne nehmen wir Tipps für die kommende Ausgabe von Leader’s Digest via leadersdigest@leadershipcampus.ch entgegen.

Neu: Alle bisherigen Artikel aus der Rubrik «Update Führung» finden Sie archiviert im Archiv Update Führung.

Studie «Sicherheit 2026»

[MILAK ETH, 26.05.2026, Tibor Szvircsev Tresch et al.]

Die diesjährige Studie zur Meinung der Schweizer Stimmbevölkerung zu sicherheits- und aussenpolitischen Themen zeigt unter anderem: 50% sind der Ansicht, dass Auslandeinsätze der Schweizer Armee zur Sicherheit der Schweiz beitragen. Die Zustimmung zu einer Annäherung der Schweiz an die NATO ist um 3 Prozentpunkte auf 56% gestiegen. Nur noch 25% befürworten die Abschaffung der Wehrpflicht – der tiefste Wert seit 1983.

Link: https://css.ethz.ch/ueber-uns/CSS-news/2026/05/studie-sicherheit-2026.html

The Rise of AI Drone Warfare in Ukraine

[YouTube, 06.06.2026, War Archive]

Over the past few years, both sides in the Russo-Ukrainian War have adopted unmanned aerial systems (UAS) extensively at the tactical level. Deep strikes, including attacks on Russian oil refineries, also have strategic effects. Ukraine now fields improved fixed-wing drones that use AI for terminal guidance, enabling them to reach their targets even under electronic-warfare disruption. Combined with degraded Russian air defence capabilities, this means that Ukrainian medium-range strikes increasingly generate effects at the operational level. Protecting military logistics under similar conditions is therefore a pressing question for many armed forces.

Link: https://youtu.be/wjZhQdTGFno?si=JXjHbE4jVinugpud

Beyond FPVs: Learning the Lessons of the Ukraine War, All of Them

[Modern War Institute, 08.10.2025, Sam Scanlon]

Scanlon argues that the war in Ukraine is neither a crystal ball for future warfare nor irrelevant to it. While debate often remains fixated on aerial drones, innovation has spread across domains: ground robots increasingly perform routine and high-risk tasks, and maritime drones have evolved rapidly, as demonstrated by Ukrainian naval drones downing Russian fighter aircraft in May 2025. He further argues that low-cost deep-strike capabilities require equally low-cost defensive solutions. Overall, the article makes the case that armed forces must learn and adapt quickly enough to out-innovate a changing adversary.

Link: https://mwi.westpoint.edu/beyond-fpvs-learning-the-lessons-of-the-ukraine-war-all-of-them/

Will, Cohesion, Resilience, and the Wars of the Future

[CSIS, 16.09.2025, Daniel Byman]

This article by the Center for Strategic and International Studies reasons that modern conflicts depend as much on political unity and societal resilience as on military power. Drawing on Ukraine and the Middle East, it highlights three imperatives, namely building public trust to strengthen societal resilience, reinforcing alliance cohesion through coordination, and countering divisive disinformation.

Link: https://www.csis.org/analysis/chapter-2-will-cohesion-and-resilience

The Russian «Firehose of Falsehood» Propaganda Model

[RAND, 11.07.2016, Christopher Paul, Miriam Matthews]

Already having been published 10 years ago, this article examines in detail how modern Russian propaganda works, and why its inherent contradictions are not a flaw but rather a core feature. Paul and Matthews argue that people’s mental resilience and awareness are key in lowering their vulnerability to propaganda, saying “[D]on’t expect to counter Russia’s firehose of falsehood with the squirt gun of truth. Instead, put raincoats on those at whom the firehose is aimed”.

Link: https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html

Bevölkerungsschutz im bewaffneten Konflikt: Ländervergleich zu Schutzbauten und Evakuierungen

[CSS ETH, Mai 2026, Leonard Schliesser]

Zivile Resilienz ist ein zentraler Bestandteil militärischer Verteidigungsfähigkeit. Um die Wiederausrichtung des Schweizer Bevölkerungsschutzes auf militärische Konflikte zu unterstützen, vergleicht diese Fallstudie den aktuellen Stand ziviler Schutzbauten und Evakuierungskonzepten in Finnland, Deutschland, Polen und in der Ukraine. Besonders hervorgehoben werden dabei das umfassende Sicherheitsmodell Finnlands, das Tempo im Polnischen Bevölkerungsschutz sowie die forcierte Improvisationsfähigkeit im Ukrainischen Bevölkerungsschutz. Auf der verlinkten Website können Sie die komplette Studie als PDF-Datei herunterladen.

Link: https://css.ethz.ch/publikationen/css-studies/details.html?id=/b/e/v/l/bevlkerungsschutz_im_bewaffneten__konfli

Über das «Update Führung»

Das Update Führung ist eine wiederkehrende Rubrik des Newsletters Leader’s Digest. Dieser Newsletter entsteht in Kooperation des Leadership Campus der Schweizer Armee und der Dozentur Führung und Kommunikation der Militärakademie an der ETH Zürich. Wenn Sie Leader’s Digest noch nicht abonniert haben, finden Sie unter folgendem Link weitere Informationen sowie das Formular zur Anmeldung. Falls Sie Lesenswertes zu Command, Leadership oder Management entdecken, würden wir uns freuen, wenn Sie dies mit uns teilen. Gerne nehmen wir Tipps für die kommende Ausgabe von Leader’s Digest via leadersdigest@leadershipcampus.ch entgegen.

Neu: Alle bisherigen Artikel aus der Rubrik «Update Führung» finden Sie archiviert im Archiv Update Führung.

Designing A Generative AI Platform For Tactical Training Of Junior Officers

[TDHJ, 28.05.2026, Ivan Colak-Antic, Lauriane Fivaz, Simone Matteo Locatelli]

In this article, Colak-Antic (research associate at MILAK), Fivaz and Locatelli (students at MILAK) analyse the potential of generative AI for tactical decision games in junior officer training. They argue that traditional wargames and TDGs are valuable, but constrained by instructor capacity, limited scenario diversity, single-point decisions and instructor bias. AI-enabled platforms could help alleviate these shortcoming by enabling their users to repeatedly practise varied, multi-step tactical scenarios with adaptive adversaries, battlefield visualisation and personalised debriefings. Phillip J. Halton’s CustomGPT “What Now, Commander?”, while not part of the article, gives a useful impression of how such a tactical AI tutor could feel in practice. The authors nevertheless underline that such systems require multi-agent architecture, adequate data, coherent scenario progression and feedback based on national doctrine.

Link: https://tdhj.org/blog/post/generative-ai-training-officers/

Drones Aren’t Antithetical to Maneuver Warfare – They’re the Key to Unleashing its Effectiveness

[Modern War Institute, 25.11.2025, Charlie Phelps]

Phelps challenges the view that drones undermine manoeuvre warfare and argues that they are essential to preserving tempo, initiative, and offensive action in future large-scale land combat. Rather than treating drones simply as a tool to strike, he highlights the manifold tasks drones can serve apart from striking enemy targets. When properly integrated, they can provide persistent reconnaissance, support electronic warfare, and rapidly expose gaps in the enemy’s defences. In doing so, Phelps argues that tactical drones can enable mission command and manoeuvre warfare.

Link: https://mwi.westpoint.edu/drones-arent-antithetical-to-maneuver-warfare-theyre-the-key-to-unleashing-its-effectiveness/

10 Ukrainians Humbled Two NATO Battalions. When Will NATO Wake Up?

[War on the Rocks, 26.03.2026, Bryan Daugherty]

In this article Daugherty highlights the gaps in NATO capabilities which Hedgehog 2025, a NATO exercise including Ukrainian soldiers, highlighted. He stresses the need for armed forces to cooperate with Ukraine to catch up in drone warfare and drone interception capabilities. Whilst they are not part of NATO, the Gulf States’ inability for reliable and sustained air defence against Iranian saturation attacks has further driven the author’s point home; states such as Saudi Arabia have consequently decided to cooperate more closely with Ukraine.

Link: https://warontherocks.com/2026/03/10-ukrainians-humbled-two-nato-battalions-when-will-nato-wake-up/

Neocentaur: A Model for Cognitive Evolution Across the Levels of War

[Modern War Institute, 09.05.2025, William J. Barry, Blair Wilcox]

In this piece, a professor of emerging technology at the U.S. Army War College and his colleague discuss the potential and risks of integrating AI into the strategic, operational and tactical levels of war. They advocate a Neocentaur model, where human operators are paired with AI, yet where humans maintain control over the machine. Moreover, they warn of the dangers of the inherently attractive process of cognitive offloading, where humans, especially when working in a stressful environment, are tempted to over-rely on machines for decision-making. In that case, generative AI would direct human cognition instead of augmenting it. The authors warn of this minotaur drift, the trend towards giving up control to machines.

Link: https://mwi.westpoint.edu/neocentaur-a-model-for-cognitive-evolution-across-the-levels-of-war/

Emergent Approaches to Combined Arms Manoeuvre in Ukraine

[RUSI, 23.10.2025, Jack Watling]

After Ukraine’s failed 2023 southern offensive, Watling argues that the war in Ukraine has exposed why classic combined arms manoeuvre, massing armour, infantry and artillery to achieve surprise and then exploit, is now far harder. Persistent drone reconnaissance, dispersed sensors and space-enabled communications lead to a more transparent battlefield, and concentrations of troops and equipment are detected and hit quickly. Just as importantly, resupply and reinforcements are often easier to target than frontline troops, so offensives lose momentum before any weaknesses in the enemy’s defences can be exploited. Watling focuses on higher-performing Ukrainian assault units which treat manoeuvre as a staged system across three zones: contact, middle (enemy fires, EW, UAV teams and logistics), and deep. The assault unit’s sequence is to contest the enemy’s sensing, isolate a chosen sector from support and resupply, then deliberately degrade and fix the defence before suppressing, closing, clearing, and consolidating with overwatch across open terrain.

Link: https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/insights-papers/emergent-approaches-combined-arms-manoeuvre-ukraine

Technological Evolution on the Battlefield

[CSIS, 16.09.2025, Aosheng Pusztaszeri, Emily Harding]

This CSIS article considers how rapid technological advances such as in drone technology and AI are changing the character of war. Sensors are ubiquitous, and traditionally massing forces is increasingly risky, as are non-dispersed logistics. The authors argue that to adapt to this new character of war, armed forces need to acquire robust counter-drone and electronic warfare (EW) capabilities and redundant secure communications. Moreover, the article strikes the importance of dispersed tactics and agile procurement systems.

Link: https://www.csis.org/analysis/chapter-9-technological-evolution-battlefield

Seven Contemporary Insights on the State of the Ukraine War

[CSIS, 17.11.2025, Mick Ryan]

In this nuanced analysis, Mick Ryan shares the insights he gathered from observing the Russian-Ukrainian War. Amongst other points, he argues that while drone saturation has certainly changed how the war is fought, it is not a drone war as drones complement rather than replace existing capabilities such as artillery. The author then further investigates the role of military adaptation, long-range strikes and the upcoming of a new battle triangle.

Link: https://www.csis.org/analysis/seven-contemporary-insights-state-ukraine-war

Über das «Update Führung»

Das Update Führung ist eine wiederkehrende Rubrik des Newsletters Leader’s Digest. Dieser Newsletter entsteht in Kooperation des Leadership Campus der Schweizer Armee und der Dozentur Führung und Kommunikation der Militärakademie an der ETH Zürich. Wenn Sie Leader’s Digest noch nicht abonniert haben, finden Sie unter folgendem Link weitere Informationen sowie das Formular zur Anmeldung. Falls Sie Lesenswertes zu Command, Leadership oder Management entdecken, würden wir uns freuen, wenn Sie dies mit uns teilen. Gerne nehmen wir Tipps für die kommende Ausgabe von Leader’s Digest via leadersdigest@leadershipcampus.ch entgegen.

Neu: Alle bisherigen Artikel aus der Rubrik «Update Führung» finden Sie archiviert im Archiv Update Führung.

Georg Häsler über Neutralität, Sicherheit und die Idee einer Alpenallianz

[YouTube, 13.02.2026, Georg Häsler, Mathias Müller]

Was bedeutet Neutralität in einer zunehmend unsicheren Welt? Welche sicherheitspolitischen Herausforderungen kommen auf die Schweiz zu? Und wie kann Zusammenarbeit im Alpenraum zur Stabilität Europas beitragen? Im offiziellen Podcast der Schweizer Armee spricht NZZ-Redaktor, Sicherheitsexperte und Oberst Georg Häsler mit Gastgeber Oberst i Gst Mathias Müller über strategisches Denken, militärische Realität und die Verantwortung eines neutralen Staates. Dabei erläutert er auch die Grundidee seines Buches «Alpenallianz», das den Alpenraum als gemeinsamen sicherheitspolitischen Raum betrachtet. Ein interessantes Gespräch über Geopolitik, Landesverteidigung und die Bedeutung klarer Analyse in komplexen Zeiten.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnohnbkakgU

Strategic Trends 2026

[CSS ETH, 12.03.2026, Gorana Grgić, Daniel Möckli et al]

In der diesjährigen Ausgabe des jährlichen Reports des Center for Security Studies an der ETH Zürich identifizieren und analysieren die Autoren strategische Trends, welche ihrer Ansicht nach die Weltpolitik der nächsten Jahre prägen werden. Im Detail behandelt werden dabei der sich wandelnde Charakter des Krieges, die Militarisierung des Weltraums, sowie die zunehmend multipolare Weltordnung.

Link (De): https://css.ethz.ch/ueber-uns/CSS-news/2026/03/strategic-trends-2026.html

Link (Eng): https://css.ethz.ch/en/center/CSS-news/2026/03/strategic-trends-2026.html

2023 Ukrainian Counteroffensive – Animated Analysis

[YouTube: War Archive, 16.02.2024]

In this video, War Archive analyses the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive, which allows viewers to study how Russian forces defended the frontline and which weaknesses in Ukrainian strategy they exploited. The counteroffensive was shaped by NATO training and hence Western assumptions on how a war involving NATO would unfold. Early Ukrainian attempts at breaching Russian lines through mechanized assaults proved costly, as Ukraine lacked air superiority, strong air support, and was faced with strong Russian reconnaissance and defences. The failed 2023 counteroffensive can therefore serve as a cautionary tale on how no war is the same, and how military planners need to account for the context in which a war unfolds. Apart from this analysis, War Archive post other videos where he analyses specific battles of the Russian War in Ukraine in detail. Highly recommended is his video on the Battle of Kharkiv.

Link Counteroffensive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuw14h4WIsc

Link Kharkiv: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H8KF3i2iBU

Innere Führung 4/25

[Bundeswehr, 08.11.2025]

Diese Ausgabe des Bundeswehrmagazins «Innere Führung» beschäftigt sich mit zeitgemässer Menschenführung (16), innerer Führung (30), sowie der nun 70-jährigen Geschichte der Bundeswehr (24).

Link: https://www.bundeswehr.de/de/organisation/zentrum-innere-fuehrung/unsere-angebote/if-zeitschrift-fuer-innere-fuehrung

The Dawn of the A.I. Drone

[The New York Times Magazine, 31.12.2025, C.J. Chivers]

Whereas early-on in the war Ukraine’s drones could operate freely, the Russian Armed Forces later deployed strong electronic warfare systems. As EW systems were mounted on potential targets such as tanks, many Ukrainian drones did not reach their targets as the drone operator lost control over his or her drone as the drone was jammed. To avoid this failure in the last stage of an attack, A.I. plays an increasingly important role as it helps drones successfully reach their targets even as they are exposed to jamming. Chivers reports from Ukraine’s “fast-feedback” drone ecosystem, where the need to overcome Russian EW leads to increasingly autonomous drone missions. He shows how terminal guidance modules, GPS-free navigation (visual positioning), and early swarm management concepts are already in combat use, often built from commercial components and iterated through rapid frontline feedback loops. The article highlights a certain interconnectedness, where not only the efforts of combat units matter, but where successful strike operations under jamming conditions are also the collective product of the work of venture capital, government procurement and engineers. Chivers notes how armed forces which do not prepare for (partially) autonomous warfare will fall behind.

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/magazine/ukraine-ai-drones-war-russia.html

Defending the City: An Overview of Defensive Tactics from the Modern History of Urban Warfare

[Modern War Institute, 14.02.2022, John Spencer, Jayson Geroux]

In this intriguing piece, Spencer and Geroux use historic examples from WWII and contemporary wars to extract lessons for urban warfare. Amongst others, they use the Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943), the Defence of Mosul (2016-2017) and the First Battle of Grozny (1994-1995) as case studies.

Link: https://mwi.westpoint.edu/defending-the-city-an-overview-of-defensive-tactics-from-the-modern-history-of-urban-warfare/

Über das «Update Führung»

Das Update Führung ist eine wiederkehrende Rubrik des Newsletters Leader’s Digest. Dieser Newsletter entsteht in Kooperation des Leadership Campus der Schweizer Armee und der Dozentur Führung und Kommunikation der Militärakademie an der ETH Zürich. Wenn Sie Leader’s Digest noch nicht abonniert haben, finden Sie unter folgendem Link weitere Informationen sowie das Formular zur Anmeldung.

Falls Sie Lesenswertes zu Command, Leadership oder Management entdecken, würden wir uns freuen, wenn Sie dies mit uns teilen. Gerne nehmen wir Tipps für die kommende Ausgabe von Leader’s Digest via leadersdigest@leadershipcampus.ch entgegen.

Command – Leadership – Management: Ein integratives Führungsmodell für militärische und zivile Organisationen

[Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Organisationspsychologie (GIO), 12.03.2026, Patrick Hofstetter, Florian Demont und Sarah von Felten]

Das 2023 entwickelte und im Januar 2025 in der Strategie der Gruppe Verteidigung offizialisierte Führungsmodell Command – Leadership – Management ist nun erstmals in einem peer-reviewten Zeitschriftenartikel systematisch dargestellt und theoretisch eingeordnet. Der Beitrag beschränkt sich dabei nicht auf eine Modelldarstellung. Im Sinne einer induktiv-konzeptionellen Fallstudie argumentiert er explizit, weshalb und wie sich dieser Ansatz aus dem militärischen Kontext auch auf zivile Organisationen übertragen lässt. Was in der Schweiz aufgrund der engen gesellschaftlichen Einbettung der Armee vielfach selbstverständlich erscheint, muss im umliegenden Ausland erst plausibilisiert und begründet werden. Genau diesen Nachweis versucht der vorliegende Artikel zu leisten.

Link (open access): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11612-026-00870-3

Evolution of Russian Tactics

[YouTube: War Archive, 26.12.2025]

By breaking down the Russian invasion of Ukraine into five phases, War Archive shows how the Russian Armed Forces adapted over time. In the beginning they attempted a decapitation strike aimed mainly at the capital Kyiv in what War Archive calls a “Modernized Blitzkrieg”. As this failed due to unexpected Ukrainian resistance and a lack of air superiority, in May 2022 the Russian armed forces shifted their approach to rely less on manoeuvre and more on an artillery “Wall of Fire”. These artillery-enabled advances then ground to a halt as Ukrainian deep-strikes (such as with HIMARS) targeted the logistics needed for such high artillery firing rates. Having attempted to outmanoeuvre and outgun their opponent, in late 2022 the Russians then shifted their focus to relying on infantry assaults mostly constituted by Wagner troops. As Wagner was disbanded, the regular Russian Armed Forces incorporated Wagner’s infantry-heavy approach and added limited mechanised elements to it. Since mid-2024, they now rely on infiltrating Ukrainian-held positions in small teams. Whereas most teams are quickly eliminated, sheer numbers mean that some are inevitably successful in eroding Ukrainian defences over time, as seen in Russia’s capture of the centre of Pokrovsk in December 2025. Apart from this analysis, War Archive posts other videos where he analyses specific battles of the War in Ukraine in detail. Most notably, his video about the Battle for Hostomel Airport allows the viewers to study how Russian forces attacked and why their plan of enabling an air bridge to Hostomel ultimately failed.

Link Tactics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6MfjV2vsdg

Link: Hostomel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0Ji7KqqEqg

From Relic to Relevance: Why Obsolete Weapons Still Win Modern Wars

[Modern War Institute, 13.11.2025, Lukáš Dyčka]

The Bundeswehr retired its Gepard air defence systems in 2010. 12 years later Germany exported Gepard systems to Ukraine, where they proved very capable of defending against Russian Shahed/Geran drones. This article highlights how «obsolete» platforms «may be one adversary or one type of terrain away from renewed relevance.» With European armed forces facing the possibility of a long war and hence being in need of redundancies and deep stockpiles, the author wants armed forces to stop calling weapon systems obsolete and to «Start asking what problems they can still solve».

Link: https://mwi.westpoint.edu/from-relic-to-relevance-why-obsolete-weapons-still-win-modern-wars/

Le Polemarque

[La Chouette Librairie]

Une librairie en ligne française moins connue, la Chouette Librairie, propose une sélection ciblée d’ouvrages en études stratégiques, histoire militaire, éthique militaire et leadership. Son catalogue comprend des œuvres influentes de figures telles que Guisan, Rommel et Fuller, entièrement en français.

Link: https://www.lachouettelibrairie.com/editeur/le-polemarque/

Is Europe Too Soft to Fight?

[War on the Rocks, 28.10.2025, Florence Gaub, Roderick Parkes]

Gaub and Parkes warn that as governments see their population as unwilling and too soft to fight, they risk a self-fulfilling prophecy. They argue that instead of a fixed category, the «will to fight» should be treated as societal potential that can be both suppressed or cultivated.

Link: https://warontherocks.com/2025/10/is-europe-too-soft-to-fight/

The Case for Treating Drones as Ammunition

[War on the Rocks, 21.11.2025, Zachary Griffiths, Jeff Ivas]

Griffiths and Ivas argue that the US Army will not scale small drones successfully if it continues to manage them like durable equipment. Drawing on Ukraine’s high consumption rates and rapidly growing production, they frame small quadcopters and first-person view drones as inherently expendable, closer in cost and turnover to mortar rounds than to “aircraft”. The author’s proposal is straightforward: classify small aerial drones as conventional ammunition, switch from brand-based procurement to role-based “drone families” (recon, FPV, etc), standardise controllers, and use simulators in addition to live drones to lower drone attrition during training.

Link: https://warontherocks.com/2025/11/the-case-for-treating-drones-as-ammunition/

Über das «Update Führung»

Das Update Führung ist eine wiederkehrende Rubrik des Newsletters Leader’s Digest. Dieser Newsletter entsteht in Kooperation des Leadership Campus der Schweizer Armee und der Dozentur Führung und Kommunikation der Militärakademie an der ETH Zürich. Wenn Sie Leader’s Digest noch nicht abonniert haben, finden Sie unter folgendem Link weitere Informationen sowie das Formular zur Anmeldung.

Falls Sie Lesenswertes zu Command, Leadership oder Management entdecken, würden wir uns freuen, wenn Sie dies mit uns teilen. Gerne nehmen wir Tipps für die kommende Ausgabe von Leader’s Digest via leadersdigest@leadershipcampus.ch entgegen.

Bulletin 2025 zur Schweizerischen Sicherheitspolitik

[CSS ETH, 2025, Lucas Renaud, Daniel Möckli et al.]

Das Bulletin 2025 zur Schweizerischen Sicherheitspolitik liefert eine Bestandesaufnahme angesichts der aktuellen globalen sicherheitspolitischen Entwicklungen. Es beleuchtet unter anderem die Bedeutung eines «Drohnen-Ökosystems» für die Schweiz, die Notwendigkeit der Weiterentwicklung des Bevölkerungsschutzsystems sowie die Rolle der Schweiz als Vorsitz in der Organisation für Sicherheit und Zusammenarbeit in Europa (OSZE). Zudem analysiert es die Herausforderungen und Chancen, die sich für das Labor Spiez aus dem Wandel des Umfelds und dem technologischen Fortschritt ergeben. Eröffnet wird das Bulletin mit einem Interview mit Bundesrat und VBS-Vorsteher Martin Pfister.

Link: https://css.ethz.ch/publikationen/bulletin-zur-schweizerischen-sicherheitspolitik/details.html?id=/b/u/l/l/bulletin_2025_on_swiss_security_policybu

Realising Societal Resilience for a Whole of Society Approach to Defence

[RUSI, 14.10.2025, Katharine A.M. Wright]

Open and democratic societies are inherently vulnerable to information warfare: influencing citizens’ votes can give foreign actors leverage over what should be domestic decisions. But resilience against disinformation is only one dimension of societal resilience—a broad concept spanning everything from citizens’ critical thinking to universities training enough doctors for potential mass-casualty events, to education that gives young adults a basic grasp of security policy and resilience. Wright argues that effective societal resilience depends on strong trust in government and on people feeling safe rather than preoccupied with other pressures. From this perspective, she highlights the UK’s housing and health crises as key factors undermining societal resilience.

Link: https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/realising-societal-resilience-whole-society-approach-defence

Why Mechanized Warfare Will Still Be Decisive in the Next Land War

[War on the Rocks, 02.01.2026, Scott Rutter, Matthew C. Paul]

Rutter and Paul argue that the war in Ukraine shows mechanised forces are not obsolete: they remain essential for seizing and holding ground. Their effectiveness, however, depends on operating within a “window of advantage”. On a sensor-saturated, drone-rich battlefield, tanks work only when commanders create brief windows through deception, ISR, electronic warfare, rapid breaching, and tightly synchronised fires. Platform upgrades alone are therefore insufficient. The authors call for shifting emphasis toward unmanned systems, EW, ISR, AI-enabled command and control, and logistics that can sustain short, violent mechanised thrusts.

Link: https://warontherocks.com/2026/01/why-mechanized-warfare-will-still-be-decisive-in-the-next-land-war/

Ten Jolting Takeaways from Trump’s New National Security Strategy

[War on the Rocks, 05.12.2025, Rick Landgraf]

This article gives a quick summary of the new National Security Strategy of the US, released in November 2025. Apart from being influenced by US domestic politics, it highlights how the strategy seeks to prioritise US influence in the Western hemisphere over influence in other regions, in what has been called the Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, or the “Donroe Doctrine”. In regards to Europe, the prioritisation of the Western hemisphere goes hand-in-hand with the US attitude towards European defence changing from an attempt at burden-sharing to burden-shifting.

Link: https://warontherocks.com/2025/12/ten-jolting-takeaways-from-trumps-new-national-security-strategy/

Faster Wars, Smarter Minds: Driving the Army’s Quiet Cognitive Revolution

[War on the Rocks, 02.09.2025, Milford Beagle Jr.]

Beagle’s core claim is that battlefield technology is advancing faster than human cognition can keep up—so building cognitive capacity is as important as investing in new systems. He frames AI as “additional intelligence”: a tool for synthesis and pattern-finding that expands what staffs can see and process, not an automatic decision-maker or a substitute for responsibility. The article argues that US professional military education is being redesigned to build that cognitive edge—by strengthening adaptive and creative thinking, using AI-enabled tools to personalise learning, and accelerating doctrinal updates. The aim is leaders who ask better questions, critically test machine outputs, and integrate new capabilities ethically and effectively.

Link: https://warontherocks.com/2025/09/faster-wars-smarter-minds-driving-the-armys-quiet-cognitive-revolution/

A Secure Europe Between Gaullism and ‘Daddy’

[CEPA, 08.07.2025, Roland Freudenstein]

Europe faces an aggressive neighbour in the East and a transatlantic partner that is unpredictable at best—and hostile at worst. Against this backdrop, Freudenstein argues that Europe should choose neither an anti-American, Gaullist path nor subservience to the US. Instead, he claims the most responsible course lies between these two extremes.

Link: https://cepa.org/article/a-europe-secure-between-gaullism-and-washington/

Über das «Update Führung»

Das Update Führung ist eine wiederkehrende Rubrik des Newsletters Leader’s Digest. Dieser Newsletter entsteht in Kooperation des Leadership Campus der Schweizer Armee und der Dozentur Führung und Kommunikation der Militärakademie an der ETH Zürich. Wenn Sie Leader’s Digest noch nicht abonniert haben, finden Sie unter folgendem Link weitere Informationen sowie das Formular zur Anmeldung.

Falls Sie Lesenswertes zu Command, Leadership oder Management entdecken, würden wir uns freuen, wenn Sie dies mit uns teilen. Gerne nehmen wir Tipps für die kommende Ausgabe von Leader’s Digest via document.getElementById(«email-obfuscator-leadersdigest»).innerHTML=»R-Znvy».replace(/[a-zA-Z]/g,function(c){return String.fromCharCode((c=(c=c.charCodeAt(0)+13)?c:c-26);});[Aktivieren Sie JavaScript, um die E-Mail-Adresse anzuzeigen] entgegen.

Stratos 2/2025

[Schweizer Armee, 30.10.2025]

Das neue Stratos ist da! Diese Ausgabe des zweimal jährlich erscheinenden Magazins der Schweizer Armee beschäftigt sich mit Human Security (HUMSEC). Durch die veränderte geopolitische Lage und die zunehmende Urbanisierung der Schweiz gewinnt der Schutz der Zivilbevölkerung in einem potenziellen bewaffneten Konflikt an Bedeutung. Insbesondere lesenswert ist hierzu das Interview mit Brigadier Christian Arioli (S. 88), aber auch die Beiträge zu Führungskonzepten der Schweizer Armee im internationalen Vergleich (S. 43), Leistungsoptimierung und Substanzmissbrauch in der Armee (S. 50), zivil-militärischer Zusammenarbeit (S. 95) sowie Bevölkerungsschutz im bewaffneten Konflikt (S. 102).

Link: https://www.vtg.admin.ch/de/stratos

Sechs Jahre an der Frontlinie der Verantwortung

[Schweizer Armee Podcast, 02.12.2025]

In diesem Gespräch spricht der ehemalige Chef der Armee, KKdt Thomas Süssli, offen darüber, wie er diese Jahre erlebt hat: über Entscheidungen unter Druck, über Kritik und Verantwortung, über Momente der Unsicherheit und darüber, was gute Führung in schwierigen Zeiten ausmacht. KKdt Süssli schildert die grösste Mobilmachung der jüngeren Geschichte der Schweizer Armee, erzählt vom Morgen des 24. Februar 2022, von der Herausforderung, stets präsent zu sein und von der Kunst, im richtigen Moment innezuhalten. Zugleich zeigt er, warum Realismus, Vorbereitung und eine starke Milizarmee unverzichtbar sind.

Link: https://youtube.com/watch?v=eOs0pV3fFTo

Risk and Resilience Report: The Strategic Value of Civil Protection Exercises

[CSS ETH, 09.2025, Jurgena Kamberaj, Simon Aebi]

Civil protection exercises are usually treated as operational training, but this report argues they also have strategic value, for example by creating political momentum for reforms. For the Swiss Armed Forces, exercises are one of the few practical ways to test and improve the state of information sharing, logistics and civil-military cooperation.

Link: https://css.ethz.ch/en/publications/risk-and-resilience-reports.html

The World in 2026

[Chatham House, 15.12.2025, Orysia Lutsevych]

This big-picture report of a British think tank considers 14 factors which are likely to shape 2026. They range from wars and conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East to AI, Trump, health, nuclear weapons and political polarisation. Without a doubt, reading this wide-angle article will help its reader understand and compartmentalise the developments to occur in 2026.

Link: https://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/the-world-today/2025-12/world-2026

The Battle of Shusha City and the Missed Lessons of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War

[Modern War Institute, 14.07.2021, John Spencer, Harshana Ghoorhoo]

This case study looks at the battles over control of the city of Shusha/Shushi in the Southern Caucasus. The city is situated on a hill and surrounded by mountainous terrain. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have strong cultural ties to the city. After the Soviet Union broke apart, Armenia took control of the city in 1992. Azerbaijani forces launched an offensive on the Karabakh/Artsakh region in 2020, and the city changed hands. This article investigates the reasons that made the Armenian defences fail and what made the Azerbaijani offensive succeed and thereby provides valuable lessons on the conduct of urban warfare.

Link: https://mwi.westpoint.edu/the-battle-of-shusha-city-and-the-missed-lessons-of-the-2020-nagorno-karabakh-war/

Strategic Competition in the Age of AI — Emerging Risks and Opportunities from Military Use of Artificial Intelligence

[RAND, 06.09.2024, James Black et al.]

In this comprehensive, 144-page RAND report, the authors investigate the risks and opportunities that come with integrating AI into the armed forces. The authors note that by facilitating deep fakes, enabling non-state actors and through managing nuclear arsenals, the application of AI in defence could potentially have catastrophic consequences. To guard against this threat, the authors suggests that knowledge of AI’s risks should be more thoroughly researched, and awareness of AI’s risks should be increased. Moreover, reminiscent of arms control, the authors suggest that military AI use should be transparent and regulated on an international scale. The link leads you to a summary page, there you can download the full report.

Link: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3295-1.html

Über das «Update Führung»

Das Update Führung ist eine wiederkehrende Rubrik des Newsletters Leader’s Digest. Dieser Newsletter entsteht in Kooperation des Leadership Campus der Schweizer Armee und der Dozentur Führung und Kommunikation der Militärakademie an der ETH Zürich. Wenn Sie Leader’s Digest noch nicht abonniert haben, finden Sie unter folgendem Link weitere Informationen sowie das Formular zur Anmeldung.

Falls Sie Lesenswertes zu Command, Leadership oder Management entdecken, würden wir uns freuen, wenn Sie dies mit uns teilen. Gerne nehmen wir Tipps für die kommende Ausgabe von Leader’s Digest via document.getElementById(«email-obfuscator-leadersdigest»).innerHTML=»R-Znvy».replace(/[a-zA-Z]/g,function(c){return String.fromCharCode((c=(c=c.charCodeAt(0)+13)?c:c-26);});[Aktivieren Sie JavaScript, um die E-Mail-Adresse anzuzeigen] entgegen.

Auftrag. Mensch. Organisation. Führung zwischen Chaos und Perfektion.

[Verlag NZZ Folio, 08.12.2025, Patrick Hofstetter, Thomas Vogel und Reto Wegmann]

Unter dem Dreiklang «Auftrag – Mensch – Organisation» verbinden die Autoren militärische Führungsprinzipien mit den Herausforderungen ziviler Organisationen und machen sie für den Alltag von Führungskräften nutzbar. Der kompakte Ratgeber präsentiert ihre persönlichen Erfahrungen anhand eines fiktiven Charakters, dem Oberleutnant Lukas Weber. Lukas ist Startup-Gründer, ETH Zürich-Abgänger, Milizoffizier, Freizeitmusiker. Er nutzt Tipps und Tricks aus seiner Führungsausbildung in der Schweizer Armee, um sich durch das Chaos seines Lebens zu kämpfen. Damit soll das Werk nicht nur hilfreich, sondern auch unterhaltsam zu lesen sein. Das Command-Leadership-Management-Modell und der OODA-Loop dienen dabei als robuste Orientierung: von der Problemerfassung über die Auftragsanalyse bis hin zu Lagemeetings, Kulturarbeit und persönlicher Stressregulation. Wer seine Führung zwischen Chaos und Perfektion bewusster gestalten will, findet in diesem Buch eine verständliche und zugleich anspruchsvolle Grundlage für den eigenen Führungsalltag – egal, ob Bereichsleiterin, Zugführer oder Projektverantwortliche.

Link: https://www.nzz-libro.ch/Auftrag.-Mensch.-Organisation.-978-3-03980-033-9

The Wartech Nexus – Are Military Structures Fit Enough?

[Defence Horizon Journal, 12.06.2025, Bernhard Schulyok, Lukas Grangl]

In this journal article, the authors argue that to stay effective, armed forces need the ability to integrate technological innovation quickly and effectively. Militaries‘ institutional tendency to favour a purely conservative approach puts them at risk as they are unprepared if a potential enemy uses technological innovation to his advantage. Therefore, the authors see «institutional fitness», the military’s ability to change, as crucial. Their suggested path towards institutional fitness includes decentralised decision-making, public-private partnerships and cultural transformation. A valuable read.

Link: https://tdhj.org/blog/post/wartech-military-innovation/

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s War with the Rules of Engagement

[Just Security, 09.10.2025, Daniel Maurer]

U.S. defense secretary Pete Hegseth, leader of the renamed Department of War, has repeatedly called for Rules of Engagements to be lifted, so that the hands of U.S. soldiers could be «untied». He wants the U.S. Armed Forces to focus on lethality to be victorious, ignoring various other factors that contribute to military success, such as having a coherent (military) strategy that meaningfully bridges the existing means to the desired ends. The article notes how Hegseth’s denigration of the RoE risks encouraging lawlessness within the U.S. Armed Forces. As President Trump is deploying the National Guard domestically, such lawlessness can impact U.S. citizens not just peripherally, but directly. 

Link: https://www.justsecurity.org/122191/hegseths-war-rules-engagement/

When the Campaign Meets the City: Urban Battles and the Operational Level of War

[Modern War Institute, Alec Wahlman, 07.09.2020]

The author uses an example of a potential Russian advance on Warsaw to show how seemingly minor tactical successes can have operational-level effects. He then argues that the tactical level is not to be seen as divorced from the operational level of war, but rather that both should be connected meaningfully to serve the broader military strategic goals effectively.

Link: https://mwi.westpoint.edu/when-the-campaign-meets-the-city-urban-battles-and-the-operational-level-of-war/

Building Trust in Military AI Starts with Opening the Black Box

[War on the Rocks, 12.08.2025, Roy Lindelauf , Herwin Meerveld]

As the capabilities of AI are advancing, many pundits have already argued for a rapid integration of AI into the armed forces. Yet the authors of this article argue that if militaries’ AI adoption is hastened, they risk investing into AI-solutions that aren’t a solution at all. Moreover, over-reliance on AI carries its own risks, as does the skipping of answering ethical questions before deploying AI within the armed forces. The authors therefore argue that militaries should adopt AI, yet do so in a systematic and thought-out manner and not in haste. They propose that increasing AI literacy within the armed forces as well as within the defence sector can serve as a first step and will help militaries adopt AI systematically whilst also helping to mitigate the risks associated with AI-use in defence.

Link: https://warontherocks.com/2025/08/building-trust-in-military-ai-starts-with-opening-the-black-box/

Dispersed, Disguised, and Degradable —The Implications of the Fighting in Ukraine for Future U.S.-Involved Conflicts

[RAND, 22.05.2025, Mark Hvizda et al.]

The authors of this RAND report look at the Russian War in Ukraine and which lessons can be drawn from it for future conflicts. Both the tactical and the operational level of war are investigated. The report addresses UAS and precision-mass strikes, how the gap between UAS and cruise missiles is shrinking, why offensive operations have become even more challenging, and why air superiority remains critical. The link leads you to a summary page, there you can download the full report.

Link: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3141-2.html

Drift or Abandonment? Exploring How US Domestic Politics and External Realities May Affect US Security Engagement in Europe 2025-2029

[Swedish Defence Research Agency, 09.09.2025, Alin Aronsson, Björn Ottosson]

As a reaction to the Trump administration’s chaotic behaviour and ever-changing approach to European security, the authors of this study analyse possible U.S. defence postures in Europe during Trump’s second term (2025–2029). They outline four scenarios: Policy Drift (gradual change), Bilateralisation (fragmented ties to Europe on a country-by-country basis), Asia First (abrupt Indo-Pacific pivot), and Abandonment (U.S. withdrawal from NATO). All scenarios involve reduced American military presence, creating risks for NATO cohesion and European security. The study urges European leaders to address these risks by strengthening interoperability and strategic cooperation to move towards strategic autonomy. A crucial first step towards autonomy would be compensating for existing European capability gaps of capabilities which for now only the U.S. armed forces can adequately provide, such as ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance), missile defence and long-range strike capabilities. The full report can be downloaded on the following page.

Link: https://www.foi.se/en/foi/reports/report-summary.html?reportNo=FOI-R–5777–SE

Breaking NATO’s Cult of the Urban Offense

[Modern War Institute, 16.08.2025, John Spencer et al.]

This article draws an interesting connection between the Allies’ struggle to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe and today’s focus of Western armies on the urban offense. John Spencer, Stuart Lyle and Jayson Geroux argue that this focus on the urban offense is not justified anymore in today’s context, and that training for urban defence should be prioritised. They conclude that “[o]ffense and defense are not opposites. They are interdependent. To focus on only one is to plan for failure.”

Link: https://mwi.westpoint.edu/breaking-natos-cult-of-the-urban-offense/

Über das «Update Führung»

Das Update Führung ist eine wiederkehrende Rubrik des Newsletters Leader’s Digest. Dieser Newsletter entsteht in Kooperation des Leadership Campus der Schweizer Armee und der Dozentur Führung und Kommunikation der Militärakademie an der ETH Zürich. Wenn Sie Leader’s Digest noch nicht abonniert haben, finden Sie unter folgendem Link weitere Informationen sowie das Formular zur Anmeldung.

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