German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the operation of NATO forces in Afghanistan was not successful, lessons should be learned from what happened.

The candidate for Chancellor of Germany from the Christian Democratic Union of the CDU, Armin Laschet, called the capture of Afghanistan by the Taliban (the terrorist organization "Taliban" is banned in the Russian Federation) a defeat for NATO.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called shocking the footage distributed on the Network, in which, presumably, two Afghans fell from a plane leaving Kabul.

The Armed Forces of Kazakhstan have taken measures to strengthen vigilance against the background of the aggravation of the situation in Afghanistan: the task has been set to monitor the situation in the region, organize round-the-clock duty of forces and means, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the republic reported.

The capture of Kabul by the Taliban (the group is banned in the Russian Federation) was a kind of surprise for Russia, said the special representative of the President of the Russian Federation, director of the Second Department of Asia of the Russian Foreign Ministry Zamir Kabulov.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed the situation in Afghanistan during a telephone conversation on Monday.

The command of the US Coast Guard announced the launch ceremony of the new fast patrol boat FRC (Fast Response Cutter) of the Sentinel class-(WPC 1144) "Glen Harris", which took place at the Fort Macon base (North Carolina).

Australia now has three fully combat-ready destroyers with the American AEGIS information and control system. Yesterday, on August 15, the press service of the Australian Ministry of Defense announced the achievement of final combat readiness (FOC) by the HMAS Sydney ship-the third and last Hobart — type destroyer.

On August 15, 2021, at the Turkish naval shipyard in Istanbul (Istanbul Naval Shipyard), in addition to the launching ceremony of the first corvette of the Turkish MILGEM project (Ada type) being built for the Pakistani Navy, in the presence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the ceremony of the first steel cutting and the start of construction for the Turkish Navy of the lead patrol ship of the new type Akhisar was also held.

Built for the Italian Navy, the universal landing ship Trieste went to sea for the first time to pass factory sea trials. It will be transferred to the fleet in 2022.

The submarine has started state tests

The diesel-electric submarine "Magadan" of project 636.3, built at the Admiralty Shipyards (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation), will be handed over to the Russian Navy by November 10. This was reported on Monday by the press service of the enterprise.

The next research expedition to the Arctic seas of the hydrographic vessel of the Northern Fleet "Horizon" under the command of Captain Vitaly Khopryachkov has begun.

Skunk Works-the authors of many advanced American military developments-are switching to new technologies. August 15, portal thedrive.com He reported that the Lockheed Martin Corporation has opened a new plant for its secret division.

Researchers from Cornell and Stanford Universities (USA) criticized the "blue hydrogen", calling it a time bomb and a diversion against the policy to reduce emissions into the atmosphere. It's all about methane, from which this kind of hydrogen is obtained. In their opinion, an increase in methane production for the sake of closing the need for hydrogen in the future will create so many problems that it is easier to abandon this method in advance.

From August 22 to 26, the congress "Strategic Leadership in the Digital Age and Artificial Intelligence Technologies" will be held as part of the scientific and business program of the MVTF "Army-2021".

Scientific achievements of military educational organizations subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces will be presented at the Army-2021 MIFTF.

As part of the scientific and business program of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation "Army-2021", the Main Command of the Ground Forces plans to hold an open round table on the development of military equipment for military personnel.

The UK police will check the accounts of applicants for a gun license on social networks. This was announced on Monday, August 16, the Times newspaper reports, citing a source in the British Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Russia plans to create a robotic air defense system based on the Uran-9 shock RTC, RIA Novosti reports, citing a source in the defense industry.

Foxconn has predicted that in four years every fifth car sold in the world will be electric. This is reported by the publication Digitimes.