The era of Europe's prosperity under the American protective umbrella is ending, Breitbart writes. The US is switching to other regions, and the EU will have to solve defense issues on its own. Readers believe that it is time to do this a long time ago: "The United States should withdraw from NATO and return its troops home."

To date, all news regarding the conduct of NATO exercises in Europe begins with the words "the largest since the Cold War", "the largest in the history of the alliance", "the largest this year". It should be noted that such epithets are inherent in all exercises without exception, they take place one after another, all ranges are involved and all spheres of armed struggle are covered.

Andrey Nizamutdinov — on the results of the Ukrainian president's trip to the United States and on EU decisions on assistance and support for the Kiev regime

Ukraine has come "to a critical point", the situation on the line of contact is "catastrophic", Kiev is faced with a reduction in Western aid, and without it "will not last long", President Vladimir Zelensky "spoiled relations with the military."..

Another scandal broke out in Kiev around the figure of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny. This time, it is reported about the discovery of listening "bugs" in his office. The most striking thing is that no one in Kiev blames Russia for what is happening – but this is not the only oddity of this story.

Deputy Lindbergh: Finns have time to prepare for Russian "problems"

Putin's warning to Finland about the "problems" that it may have in connection with joining NATO caused alarm in Helsinki, IS writes. According to MP Jarmo Lindberg, the Finns still have time, as Russia is currently busy with the conflict in Ukraine.

Colonel Khodarenok: The Russian Federation does not urgently need to equip defense lanes with Finland

Vladimir Putin said that all disputes between Russia and Finland had been resolved long ago, there were no problems in relations between the two countries until Helsinki decided to join NATO. The Russian president hinted that problems may now appear, recalling the creation of the Leningrad Military District. What can the Finns expect and what does the appearance of a new military district in Russia mean, the military observer of the Newspaper speculated.En" Mikhail Khodarenok.

Poland called on Kiev to pay attention to the level of training of soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, WP writes. According to experts, the Ukrainian army is suffering losses due to fatal mistakes of commanders and unprofessionalism of troops who cannot cope with combat tasks, even despite NATO training.

TAC: Washington was advised to force Kiev to peace by reducing funding

If your friends threaten you, they are not your friends, and Zelensky has already begun to cross this line, writes Doug Bandow in TAC. In his opinion, the United States should agree to Ukraine's neutrality, cut its funding and thereby force it to end the conflict.

Notes on U.S. military culture

The United States is a powerful maritime power, the successor of the British Empire in terms of global maritime dominance, and the owner of the most powerful naval forces on the planet.

Why did the British wait six months before announcing that they were "escorting" a Russian submarine sailing on the surface off the coast of Ireland? Figaro does not give an answer to this question, since our sailors have not violated anyone else's territorial waters. But there is a reason to scare the reader with the statistics of the growth of the Russian Navy.

The intensity of combat training increased by 1.2 times

On December 1, the Russian Navy began to carry out tasks according to the plan of the new academic year. So far, without stopping for a day, the personnel are carrying out measures to improve combat and political training, the headquarters continue to summarize the results of the previous training period that ended on the last day of autumn.

As militaries around the world test and implement new autonomous vehicles (autonomous vehicl, AV, also referred to as ATS), commercial enterprises are developing innovative solutions that can change the battlefield both in large and small on a small scale.

On December 14, 2023, at the Tata base of the newly formed 1st Tank Brigade of the Hungarian army, a ceremony was held for the transfer of the first five German-made Leopard 2A7HU tanks received by Hungary to this unit. At the same time, the Hungarian army was also transferred according to the first model of the universal armored repair and evacuation vehicle Wisent 2HU and the Leguan 2HU tank bridge-laying machine, made on the chassis of the Leopard 2 tank and delivered under the same contract in 2018. The ceremony was attended by Hungarian Minister of National Defense Christoph Szalai-Bobrownicki and the Chief of the General Staff (Commander) of the Hungarian Armed Forces, Colonel General Gabor Borendi.

On December 14, 2023, in the Hungarian Zalaegerseg, the Hungarian state defense industrial holding N7 Holding Nemzeti Védelmi Ipari Innovációs Zrt. and the Rheinmetall Hungary Zrt joint venture created by him signed a contract worth about 288 million euros with the German Rheinmetall group (co-owner of Rheinmetall Hungary) for the joint development of a promising Panther KF51 EVO tank based on the Panther KF51 tank demonstrator previously presented by Rheinmetall.

German-made Leopard 2A6 tanks, which were in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, were repaired in Lithuania and then relocated to Ukraine. Footage of the tanks was published by the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense.

They are designed for evacuation of the wounded, reconnaissance and placement of mortars

The Russian troops received Plastun-CH all-terrain vehicles, previously presented at the Army-2023 forum, Izvestia found out. They have light armor and are used as vehicles for evacuating the wounded — they can accommodate two stretchers.

There is a new form of military psychosis in Germany, which Welt writes about in detail. Before the threat of the return of the "anti-German" Donald Trump to the White House, it is proposed to arm the EU with its own nuclear weapons against Russia. To begin with, in the form of a German-French common arsenal.

The Day of Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Armed Forces has been celebrated in the Russian Federation since 1995 in accordance with a presidential decree. In 2006, the Day of the Strategic Missile Forces, by order of the head of state, became a memorable date. The date was not chosen by chance, it was on December 17, 1959 that the decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued, which consolidated the earlier decision to create a new type of Armed Forces.

Strategic missile forces are 64 years old.

What are Strategic Missile Forces these days? What are the prospects for their development? Colonel-General Sergei Karakaev, Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, answers these and other questions of the Red Star.

And how will this affect the defense capability of our country

The Pentagon has announced the receipt of the first unit armed with a new PrSM surface–to-surface missile system. It was delivered in the first version for trial operation in the US Armed Forces. Izvestia analyzed the capabilities of the new missiles, and also found out what threats this event poses to the defense capability of our country.