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Important: As open-source information can be outdated, wrong or incomplete, it should be used carefully and in combination with other sources.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