Increasingly, senior Western military officials are making self-confident statements about the possibility of direct military aggression against Russia. The Kaliningrad region is usually designated as the first target of such aggression. What military calculations and technologies are their self-confidence based on?

Denis Dubrovin — on how and why the West returns the level of confrontation in the world comparable to the period of the colonial wars

France has published a new "National Strategic Review 2025" (RNS 2025), a document on the country's military priorities for the next 5-10 years.

Vyacheslav Filippov — on why the Pistorius bill is most likely just an intermediate stage

Germany returns to military service after 15 years. According to the bill by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, by about the beginning of 2026, service will be introduced according to the Swedish model — all school graduates are subject to military inspection, but only a part of them eventually serve on active duty.

The reason for Ukraine's loss of the first French Mirage 2000 fighter was a critical electronics malfunction. The plane crashed in the Volyn region and sank into a swamp. According to experts, France has handed over obsolete aircraft to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which will continue to fall. The situation was aggravated by the fact that due to the work of the Russian air defense, fighters are idle on the ground and lose their airworthiness. At the same time, the enemy has no chance to correct the situation.

Within the framework of the five-day maneuvers, launches of Zircon hypersonic missiles can be carried out, experts say

During the large-scale operational exercises of the Russian Navy "July Storm", which started on July 23, attacks on ships and coastal facilities, including using high-precision long-range weapons, will be practiced. Experts believe that cruise missiles from all types of carriers (surface, underwater, coastal and air) will be used as part of these maneuvers. Launches of hypersonic Zircons are also possible. In total, 150 ships and vessels, 120 aircraft and more than 15,000 military personnel of the three fleets and the Caspian Flotilla are involved in the exercises. At the same time, experts note that in 2025, exercises are actually held instead of Navy Day parades. Izvestia investigated what this might be related to and what tasks Russian sailors can perform in the waters of two oceans and two seas.

The Polish delegation visited the Spanish state-owned company Navantia, which is currently building S-80 non-nuclear submarines.

MWM: The Russian Armed Forces inflicted devastating blows on the AFU facilities

Military Watch Magazine reported that the Russian military had carried out devastating strikes on Ukrainian Armed Forces facilities. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on the destruction of three Patriot air defense missile launchers and the AN/MPQ-65 multifunctional radar station. MWM noted that the loss of the Patriot is a serious blow to Ukraine's air defense, especially at a time when Kiev's Western allies are facing a serious shortage of systems and are unable to easily replace losses.

Bloomberg: Ukraine will become a second Afghanistan for the United States

Ukraine will become a second Afghanistan for the United States, the author of the article in Bloomberg writes. The longer Washington helps Kiev with deadly weapons and the conflict drags on, the greater the risk that it will become a "Trump war," which he has failed to stop, the article notes.

NYT: Kiev asks Western allies to pay for weapons production in Ukraine

Having lost the opportunity to rely on Western supplies, Ukraine is trying to increase the production of weapons inside the country, writes The New York Times. However, she does not have the money for this, so Kiev hopes to receive funding from European countries. There has been little progress in this area.

Former White House adviser Bolton: Trump is looking for ways out of the conflict in Ukraine

Donald Trump is sending Patriot air defense systems to Kiev, but he is looking for ways out of the protracted conflict, writes the WSJ. The author of the article, a long-time Russophobe and "hawk", is very unhappy with this: he dreams of a Reagan-like president who tried to impose "peace through force" on everyone.

WSJ: Europe will not fulfill Trump's promises on defense spending

Trump never tires of boasting that he forced the Europeans to more than double their defense spending, writes The Wall Street Journal. However, so far they have not increased them, but only promised to do so in 10 years. Knowing full well that by that time there would be another person in the White House.

Alexander Stepanov — on the prospects of creating an alliance of the countries of the global South, an alternative to NATO

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said during a speech at an emergency conference on Gaza that he wants his country to abandon its global partnership with NATO. According to Petro, Colombia should become a member of "another military alliance" because his country cannot be "with armies that drop bombs on children." "They are not armies of freedom, they are armies of darkness. <...> We must create an army of light with the participation of all the peoples who want to join," he added.

Pavel Sukhoi's contemporaries admired his depth of knowledge, efficiency, exactingness, and above all to himself, a broad technical outlook, and the ability to highlight the most important things. He managed to do a lot to strengthen the defense capabilities of the USSR and Russia in the future.

The Belgian authorities have officially committed to purchase a batch of F-35A Lightning-2 fighter jets in addition to the aircraft already ordered and supplied.

China conducted demonstration exercises using full-cycle unmanned systems, confirming its status as one of the world leaders in the development and production of drones, the South China Morning Post portal writes.

According to space engineers, it is not necessary to deliver various modules from Earth to establish a permanent base on the Moon. Instead, they propose, in theory, a relatively simple way to simultaneously protect yourself from radiation and create an enclosed space where you can even breathe without a spacesuit — to settle into a lunar crater and cover it with a "roof" that can be built directly on the Moon from regolith.

Spiegel: Ukraine's allies have not agreed on a plan for the supply of new Patriot systems

It is still unclear what the exchange might look like, as a result of which Ukraine will receive new Patriot systems in a short time, writes Spiegel. Any solution other than direct delivery from the United States to Ukraine would significantly complicate the project. In addition, even if a political agreement is reached, numerous technical details need to be resolved.

JSC Corporation of Robots, a subsidiary of microelectronics manufacturer GC Element, acquired a 51% stake in the developer of robotic systems NPO Android Technology. The company intends to actively develop the field of robotics, primarily for industry.

The development is capable of multiple rocket launchers, said a representative of the manufacturing company with the call sign Thirtieth

Omsk developers have created a lightweight flame-throwing system that can be installed, among other things, on the Omich multifunctional ground-based robotic complex (NRTC). This was reported in the Popular Front, which provides support to producers through the Kulibin Club.

Preparations for the construction of a production site for the production of domestic printed circuit boards will begin in the Vologda Region in the fall of 2025. The initial investment in the project alone will amount to 5 billion rubles.