WHEN

Wednesday 11 February 2015
09:00 – 09:30am Informal breakfast reception
09:30 – 10:30am IISS Director-General and Chief Executive,

WHERE

Lee Kuan Yew Conference Room at Arundel House, 13–15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX.

Admission

Registration only. If you would like to attend please RSVP to Kat Slowe, Media Relations and Communications Officer, at [email protected]

The morning will begin with an informal breakfast reception and a chance to speak with IISS staff from the Defence and Military Analysis Programme and other research areas, followed by an introduction to this year’s volume by IISS Director-General and Chief Executive, Dr John Chipman. A panel of IISS experts will then be available to answer your questions and provide further insights and information on this indispensable handbook.

The Military Balance 2015 contains region-by-region analysis of the major military and economic developments affecting defence and security policies, and the trade in weapons and other military equipment. Detailed entries describe the military capabilities of 171 countries, displaying key equipment inventories and defence economics. Comprehensive tables detail arms orders and deliveries, major training activities and international comparisons of defence expenditure and military personnel.

New Features in The Military Balance 2015:

• New country analyses including China, Colombia, France, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates, as well as analysis of regional defence and security developments such as ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
• New thematic analytical essays on hybrid warfare, directed energy weapons and US space systems.
• A new Military Balance Wall Chart, with a focus on Russia’s armed forces.
• New technical equipment-focused graphics, including on the development of Russia’s Flanker combat-aircraft variants, the US Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyer and Israel’s MerkavaIV main battle tank.
• Updated graphics feature on comparative defence statistics, with a focus on defence economics, defence industry and major land, sea and air capabilities.
• Updated national capability summaries.
• A new section detailing ‘observed equipment’ for selected non-state armed groups, including the Peshmerga in northern Iraq, separatist forces in eastern Ukraine and Boko Haram in Nigeria, among others.
• A table of military training exercises, arranged by region.
• New maps on France’s realigned military presence in Africa, the conflict in eastern Ukraine, as well as AMISOM’s Operation Indian Ocean in Somalia.

The Military Balance 2015 table of contents is available to download as a PDF >

‘Amid continuing conflict and broadening insecurity, The Military Balance provides essential facts and analysis for decision-makers and for better informed public debate.’
Dr Robert M. Gates, former US Secretary of Defense and Director of Central Intelligence

‘Because military affairs are inevitably clouded in fog, the IISS Military Balance is an essential companion for those who seek to understand.’
Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, former UK Defence Secretary and Secretary-General of NATO

The launch takes place in the Lee Kuan Yew Conference Room at Arundel House, 13–15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX.

If you would like to attend please RSVP to Kat Slowe, Media Relations and Communications Officer, at [email protected]

Information taken from http://www.iiss.org/en/events/events/archive/2015-f463/february-6697/launch-of-the-military-balance-2015-d92b