The 4th Conferences 'The Spanish Army and Future Challenges'

 JEME's speech in the events (Photo:Iván Jiménez/DECET)

Opening speech of the Minister  (Photo:Iván Jiménez/DECET)

Public of the 4th conferences about future challenges  (Photo:Iván Jiménez/DECET)

The Chief of General Staff of the Spanish Army (JEME), general Francisco Javier Varela, has stressed, during the 4th days "The Spanish Army and Future Challenges", which have been developed the 13th and 14th of March at the Army War Academy", that the huge challenge the units have to assume until the horizon 2035 is the technological innovation.

The JEME has emphasized that the adaptation is a priority for the future: "We do not only have to adapt ourselves in order to compete, we also have to adapt ourselves to survive", stated the JEME during the event; in this occassion the days have been developed under the slogan: "The Future Operative Environment and the Land Forces in 2035: the necessary performance to new challenges and threats".

The Minister of Defense, María Dolores de Cospedal, chaired, for the second consecutive year, the opening ceremony in which she appealed for "a real social conscience" in Defense Politics. Being attended by civil and also military public, she highlighted the necessity of counting with a "strong and prepared" defense in order to face the new challenges and threats that may arise.

In this sense, the JEME has pointed out that apart from adapting to the possible changes that may appear in the future, it is necessary to be "agile" when implementing these changes. "The Spanish people is good at doing so", he explained. With this statement, he has urged the Spanish Army to adapt the structure and to institute the technological changes which allow them to be prepared when facing the fixed horizon 2035 and to be "transparent in all the procedures".

Likewise, he made an emphasis in the necessity of maintaining "a communicative channel between the Spanish Army and the Industrial Sector" to determine the technological innovations which have to be established, and maintained in a same line over them.

Brigade 2035, back curtain of the 4th conferences 

 The General's speech has marked the end of the event, and the most relevant conclusions of the different analyzed blocks have been exposed too in these two days, where many military and civil celebrities have participated. At the back courtain of the event, it has been placed the initiative Brigade 2035, which will be developed in an experimental way at the 2nd Brigade "Alfonso XIII" of the Spanish Legion, with base in Viator (Almería).

The event had a principal presentation, the 13th of March, carried out by Marcos Urarte, presindent of Pharos Group, and focused on a "future operative environment". On it, it was showed a change of stage which is currently being developed and which affects at all levels; the increase of life expectancy, the dicrease of birthrate, the technological advance, the new directions of the companies or the predictions of changes that affect the human beings. "The new business concept which is being managed deals with getting to know the customers and what they are going to need before they even know", pointed out the speaker in relation with the control that technology has on people.

After it, it took place the first panel, chaired by general Ruiz Benítez, chief of the Management of Organic Doctrine, Materials and Research, under the slogan "Safety Environment 2035". The head of the Real Institute Elcano, Charles Powell alluded during this block to the geostrategic factor and he covered the interests of the main presentations. "We are in a difficult phase to define, currently driving to something new", he stated. Thus, the head of the Demographic Renaissance Foundation, Alejandro Macarrón, focused his intervention in problems concerning the birthrate dicrease or how immigration affects and its integration in the territory. He went further in his explanation about this topic and he analyzed the demographic factor binded at the society's crime level: "the conflicts and revolutions are common in the youngest societies". To conclude this block, the president of the Economics Institute, José Luis Feito, pointed out the fact that it is difficult to foretell how the future will be and that it is not easy to make economic preditions. To do that, he exposed some examples about how, before the crack in 1929, there were economists who opened good economic expectations, as happened, according to his speech, in the crisis which took place in 2007.

In the last panel, developed the 14th of March, the main topic has been "Technology Defense", and it has been chaired by general Abajo Merino, deputy in the General Direction of Armament and Material. Professor Francisco Herrera at Granada's University has performed an analysis about the industrial and technological factor. The speaker highlighted the importance of the innovation and the possibility of counting with tools which are able to bring forward future facts: "the Internet is expanding, and with all the information arriving, it will be possible to create predictive systems", he stated. Lieutenant general Carrasco Gabaldón, chief of the Training and Doctrine Command, analyzed  the military factor and stressed that "the land force is a fundamental element towards new challenges that may appear. The Spanish Army will have to adapt to the new planned stages and new kind of threats." Similarly, and in order to conclude the block, general Martínez Mejide, chief of the Plans' División of the spanish army's General Staff  stated that "it is necessary to have in 2035 Land Forces technologically advanced and with enough combat power". All these statements, according to what he showed, have the aim of "operating with success in future scenes".

The JEME, during the closing ceremony, thanked the participants and highlighted the importance of these days for the Spanish Army: "The established objective for these days has been achieved successfully, we could discuss and analyze the 2035 environment, suggest our role as Army and show how to face possible threats" he concluded.