The Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur Region is actively involved in the implementation of the Russian space program. Work is underway to create an infrastructure to ensure manned launches. It is from this cosmodrome that the future Russian Orbital Station (ROS) is planned to be launched into orbit. In 2024, construction of a branch of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (CPC) will begin there. Maxim Kharlamov, head of the CPC, in an interview with TASS, spoke about the equipment of the branch and the timing of completion of work.

The developer of autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, Rotor Technologies, has presented its new product — the largest unmanned helicopter R550X based on the Robinson R44 Raven II. Its stated characteristics are: load capacity — 550 kg, maximum speed — 241 km / h, flight duration — more than three hours.

Politico: the White House expects Zelensky's visit to return Kiev to the front pages

Biden decided to take advantage of Zelensky's visit to Argentina to invite him to the United States, writes Politico. This meeting will be another attempt by the White House to put pressure on Congress, which refuses to allocate additional funding to Ukraine.

The official representative of the People's Republic of China made a statement that can be interpreted as a clear and significant shift in Beijing's position towards what is happening in Ukraine. Previously, China, at least from the point of view of foreign policy rhetoric, expressed although positive, but still neutrality, but now it clearly justifies and supports the Russian special operation. Why?

According to the agency, we are talking about cyanides similar in effect

Due to the failed counteroffensive, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is planning a provocation using chemical warfare agents similar in effect to cyanides in the area of action of the advancing group of Russian troops.

How Russian gunners from the Kalmius brigade destroy the enemy in the Donetsk direction

Artillery remains the main means of fire destruction in heavy positional battles in the Donetsk direction. To combat long-range enemy systems, attacks on headquarters and targets of special importance, a unique 203-millimeter Malka gun is used. Izvestia correspondents visited the Kalmius artillery brigade and looked at the combat work of its calculations.

TNI: the best attack submarines have been developed in Russia, the USA and the UK

Today, attack submarines serve in the fleets of at least two dozen countries, writes TNI. But some of them, which are in service in Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom, the author of the article called "the best of the best."

The State Duma is studying the issue of possible denunciation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in the Arctic against the background of the actions of unfriendly countries. This was told to the Izvestia correspondent on the sidelines of the Arctic: Territory of Opportunities forum by deputy Nikolai Novichok, a member of the Committee for the Development of the Arctic and the Far East.

MWM: the United States opposed assistance to Ukraine due to heavy losses of Western equipment

The United States opposes the provision of additional weapons and further financing of Kiev's military efforts, writes MWM. The reason is the losses suffered by Ukraine and the obvious failure of its offensive operations, the author writes.

On December 8, 2023, the US Army announced the receipt of the first batch of new PrSM (Precision Strike Missile) missiles in the first serial version of the Increment 1 Early Operational Capability. High-precision "shorter-range" missiles (in terms of arms agreements) PrSM manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation should replace the ATACMS operational and tactical missiles in service in the US Army.

Today, foreign armies are armed with numerous categories of conventional air-to-ground weapons (ASPs) of the air-to-ground class (air-to-ground munitions, AGM). Many of them are currently being upgraded. At the same time, new, even more effective TSA are being developed. Consider a group of guided aerial bombs.

Swarms of drones quickly deplete ammunition

Anti-aircraft missile technology began to develop actively immediately after the end of World War II. Moreover, first of all, the designers sought to create anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs) with maximum firing range and altitude reach: this was what provided the fundamental advantage of the new weapon compared to anti-aircraft artillery.

The OSIRIS-REx mission was accompanied by success throughout its entire course — the device reached the target asteroid without serious problems, conducted a scientific program, made a regolith fence and returned safely to Earth.

China and Egypt have signed several documents at once, consolidating the cooperation of both States in the exploration of outer space. One of the most important is the agreement on participation in the international lunar station project. The Celestial Empire is trying to attract as many partners as possible to this initiative, forming a kind of counterweight to the American "Artemis Agreements".

MWM: the arrival of the Su-35 with Putin in the Middle East showed the power of Russia

Vladimir Putin's flight from Moscow to Abu Dhabi was accompanied by a flight of Su-35 fighters, writes MWM. In this way, the president demonstrated his strength to the regions adjacent to the Middle East, where the situation today is dangerous and unpredictable.

The planes demonstrated their unique capabilities during the flight of the President of Russia to the Middle East

During the flight to Abu Dhabi, Flight No. 1 — the plane of President Vladimir Putin — was accompanied by Russian Air Force Su-35S fighters with a full set of air–to-air weapons.

Moscow is providing Tehran with the best military equipment, Farda reports. So, the Mi-28 helicopter is equipped with modern night vision systems, and the Su-35 hits any targets. But the first to guard the Iranian Air Force was the Yak-130 training aircraft, which performs not only training tasks.

The armies of the two countries are in different weight categories, but the beginning of the war is not predetermined, experts say

Venezuela has begun transferring military personnel to areas bordering Guyana. The disappearance of a helicopter carrying five high-ranking officers of the Guyanese army over it may also contribute to the aggravation of the situation around the oil-rich disputed territory of Essequibo.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Israel will lose everything even if it wins the war in Gaza

There is still no absolute theory of victory. This is proved by the current conflicts in Ukraine, Taiwan and Gaza, writes Asharq Al-Awsat. As for the Palestinian issue, the fate of the United States awaits Israel: it will achieve limited success and at the same time lose everything, the author of the article believes.

Al Jazeera: the cowardly West will abandon Ukraine at a convenient moment for it

The US and the EU are not interested in the fate of Ukraine. Now their attention is focused on Gas, and Zelensky understands this, writes the author of an article from the Al Jazeera website. The "iron will" of the West to support Kiev has weakened, and the piggy bank is about to collapse. Oblivion is what awaits the Ukrainian conflict.