Deterrence along Europe’s maritime flanks is facing fundamental changes. Timed to coincide with the Maritime Security & Defence (MS&D) Conference 2026, the exclusive special report from Mittler Report Verlag examines the most pressing issues in maritime defence – from hybrid fleets and underwater sensors to the critical bottleneck in raw materials. The issue is now available for free download.
The war in Ukraine, ongoing hybrid attacks on critical underwater infrastructure (CUI) in the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, and the increase in GPS jamming make clear: the maritime domain has become a multidimensional battlefield. Fleet numbers alone are no longer sufficient to assess Europe’s capacity to act in times of crisis and conflict.
Against this backdrop, Editor-in-Chief Hans-Uwe Mergener poses a central question in the editorial of MS&D Magazine 2026: Can Europe regenerate and adapt its maritime combat power quickly enough?
Key analyses from leading experts and executives
The 68-page English-language special brings together contributions from senior military officers, analysts and industry experts:
- Transformation under time pressure: Vice Admiral Axel Deertz, Commander of the Fleet and Deputy Inspector of the Navy, analyses strategic trends ranging from unmanned systems to long-range precision weapons. His credo: “I prefer leading a transformation under pressure rather than managing an adaptation under fire.”
- The remaining time is running out: Dr. Jeremy Stöhs shows that Europe’s real capability gap lies in the factor of time. A dangerous gap has opened up between strategic urgency and the actual pace of procurement, maintenance and ammunition build-up.
- Hybrid fleets & unmanned systems: Sidney E. Dean and H.I. Sutton examine the integration of manned surface vessels with unmanned carriers (USV/UUV). In addition, Jens Balle, Robert Hendriks and Klemens Ehret (TKMS/ATLAS ELEKTRONIK) explore what a scalable, cost-efficient anti-submarine warfare (ASW) belt in the North Atlantic needs to look like.
- Raw material dependency as Achilles’ heel: Captain (Res.) Hans-Werner Kummerow warns of Europe’s strategic dependency on critical raw materials such as rare earths, gallium and tungsten. Without physical reserves, Europe’s rearmament risks being derailed by Chinese export restrictions.
- Protection of critical underwater infrastructure (CUI): Dr. Lee Willett documents NATO initiatives for situational awareness from the seabed to space (“Digital Oceans Vision” / “Atlantic Bastion”).
- Global periscope overview: Conrad Waters summarises the most important global armament and fleet developments of the past 12 months – including the cancellation of the F126 programme and the German Navy’s shift to the F128 frigate (MEKO A-200 DEU).
Download MS&D Magazine 2026 now free of charge (PDF)
Mittler Report Verlag
