Even ten years ago, it seemed that mandatory conscription would sink into oblivion, especially in Europe, where after the end of the cold war, one country after another moved to an entirely professional (contract) armed forces. Among them were the closest neighbors of Belarus and Russia-Poland (2009), Lithuania (2008) and Latvia (2007).

Japan's Nikkei Asian Review believes that Russia is beginning to yield to China in the development of new weapons and military technologies. Gradually, this lag may become irreversible. China is becoming the world's number two arms exporter. Russia is the third. Beijing is targeting traditional Russian arms markets.

On January 23, 2021, in Istanbul, at the Turkish naval shipyard Istanbul Tersane Komutanlığı (Istanbul Naval Shipyard), the launch ceremony of the lead frigate F 515 Istanbul of the national project TF-100 of the MILGEM program (Millî Gemi-national ship) was held. At the ceremony of launching was attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The US Navy stops the supply of Freedom-class coastal ships

The US Navy has suspended deliveries of the Lockheed Martin Corporation's Freedom-class coastal zone ship. The reason for the rejection of the vessel was a structural defect in the power transmission. This is not the first problem faced by American shipbuilders in recent years, which causes wariness in the expert community.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet has begun tracking the USS Donald Cook, which entered the Black Sea on Saturday, the Russian National Defense Control Center said.

The large anti-submarine ship "Severomorsk" in the Barents Sea performed combat training tasks,including artillery firing.

The crew of the Baltic Fleet corvette "Stoyky", which went on a long voyage, conducted an exercise in the Mediterranean Sea to counter air strikes.

The shipbuilders of the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) brought the mine defense ship "Pyotr Ilyichev" of the project 12700 "Alexandrite"out of the workshop.

At present, if we focus not on the list of personnel, but "on what can really be thrown into battle, it is obvious that the Russian Navy has fallen to the level of approximately South Korea in terms of available serviceable and combat-ready surface ships, "the Military-Industrial Courier newspaper writes.

In the United States, jealously watching the development of the Russian military-industrial complex, and therefore the message that the aircraft carrier "Admiral Kuznetsov" is being prepared to replace, aroused interest. But in the article, skepticism is mixed with interest: will Russia be able to implement interesting ideas? Will the Russian Federation repeat the success of its icebreaking shipbuilding?

The Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School received a batch of small-sized satellite communication stations "Belozer".

The first batch of the latest artillery reconnaissance systems "Penicillin" has arrived in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the General director of the concern "Vega" (part of the Russian Electronics Corporation "Rostec") told RIA Novosti") Vyacheslav Mikheev.

Government troops of Ethiopia during the fighting against the rebels of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (PFLT) managed to destroy the multiple rocket launcher AR2, considered a copy of the Russian MLRS 9K58 "Smerch".

According to Greek resources, the United States and Greece have concluded an intergovernmental agreement (in the form of an exchange of Letters of Offer and Acceptance - LOA) on the transfer of 1,200 M1117 ASV Guardian (4x4) wheeled armored vehicles from the US Department of Defense to Greece through the US program of intergovernmental foreign military sales (FMS).

In Russia, it is planned to test the latest guided 152-millimeter artillery shell for howitzers, according to materials posted on the state procurement website.

Scouts of the Eastern Military District tested the Tiger-M armored vehicles that entered service at the training ground in the Amur region in conditions of severe frosts, the press service of the district reported on Friday.

Starting this year, the Ground Forces ' rocket scientists will work closely with the Navy. The Iskander-M operational and tactical complexes (OTRK) will be able to support the Navy's operations at a range of up to 500 km and destroy the objects of a possible enemy with great accuracy. Such joint training has become a trend in combat training in recent years. The main target for the complexes may be priority coastal structures and equipment: air bases, radars and command centers, experts say.

The Don-2N multi-functional radar, the central and most complex element of the Russian missile defense system, has been upgraded and is being prepared for testing. The performance of the computing system has increased by four orders of magnitude, and its size has decreased fourfold.

Work on its modernization has been completed

The modernization of the transmitting and receiving parts of the Don-2N radar station has been completed. At the moment, the radar is undergoing final preparation for testing, said the commander of the anti-missile defense unit of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Major General Sergei Grabchuk.

NASA is undergoing personnel and administrative changes – the former head, Jim Bridenstine, has left his post, but a successor has not yet been appointed. This is one of the duties of the newly elected President Biden, but he still has too many other, more urgent things to do. Therefore, the space agency was temporarily headed by Steve Yurchik, who said that he would manage it, in fact, from the basement of his own house.