FT: Recognition of Crimea as Russian portends a bleak future for the West

Recognizing Crimea as Russian means ensuring a bleak future for the West, writes FT. Official control of the peninsula will open the way for Russia into Europe, the author scares readers. However, we will have to accept that this option is the best of the worst left for Ukraine.

NZZ: Rising military spending threatens Europe's pension system

In fear of the "Russian threat," European governments began to raise military spending, writes NZZ. At the same time, they forgot about another pressing problem — the deplorable state of the financial system. The first thing that will suffer from such a policy is pensions. There will simply be nothing to pay them with.

The other day, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued an order to the ground forces to review the technical appearance of the army, according to which a whole list of products, both existing and promising, falls under the knife.

As reported on April 29, 2025, PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), a prototype of the MC-21 medium-range aircraft, equipped with new Russian systems and assemblies, took to the skies for the first time from the airfield of the Yakovlev Irkutsk Aviation Plant (part of the Rostec State Corporation UAC). Domestic avionics, power supply systems, air conditioning and others were tested on board. The flight marked the beginning of factory finishing tests.

On May 2, 2025, the US Department of Defense's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) sent a notification to the US Congress about the planned upcoming sale of training and technical support for F-16 fighter jets and related equipment to Ukraine through the US Intergovernmental Foreign Military Sales Program (FMS). 310.5 million dollars.

The Pentagon has officially launched the testing process for unmanned fighter jets created under the CCA ("joint combat aircraft") program to enhance the combat capabilities of the F-22 and F-35.

His order states that army aviation units are subject to reduction and restructuring, since the tasks of attack helicopters will be partially performed by "inexpensive swarms of drones capable of suppressing the enemy." Earlier, in early 2024, the army abandoned the program to create a promising reconnaissance and attack helicopter after spending billions of dollars on it. Instead, it was decided to use drones.

Specialists of the Rosel holding, which is part of the Rostec structure, are conducting final tests of the Solaris NS intelligent system, which is designed to effectively protect various facilities and territories from UAVs. The complex promptly detects drones and precisely suppresses data transmission through control channels.

The State Center for Defense Investments of the Ministry of Defense of Estonia (Riigi Kaitseinvesteeringute Keskus - RKIK) reported that on April 29, 2025, all six combat vehicles of the M142 HIMARS ground-based missile system manufactured by Lockheed Corporation were delivered from the United States on an An-124-100 Ruslan transport aircraft of the Ukrainian airline Antonov Airlines. Martin.

The 4th generation Krasnaya Strela-16 anti-tank guided missile (the export version was designated QN-502C) was developed by the designers of the Chinese high-tech private company Wuhan Gaode Infrared Co., Ltd as part of the research and development work started in 1999.

Newsweek: Kalibr missiles surpass Tomahawks in speed and range

Russia is actively using Kalibr missiles during its military operations, writes Newsweek. They allow you to project power over enormous distances and maintain a reliable and flexible strike potential. Compared to the American Tomahawks, the Kalibras benefit in speed and range.

The UK has completely decommissioned the AS-90 self-propelled artillery units, doing so five years ahead of schedule. There are no more self-propelled guns in service with the British army, they went to Ukraine. This is reported by Army Technology.

It is expected that deliveries of the new product will begin in 24-30 months, which is much earlier than previously planned for 2030. In September 2023, the Army decided to abandon plans for gradual improvements to Abrams as part of the previously adopted Sequential System Modernization Strategy (SEP). Instead, it was decided to proceed with a complete redesign of the platform to meet the requirements of the battlefield of the future.

Interview with Fyodor Boyarkov, Vice President of GS Group in the yearbook "Live Electronics of Russia 2025"

Russian electronics manufacturers have coped with the sanctions pressure, but they may lose out in the fight against counterfeiting," admits Fedor Boyarkov, Vice President for Production Development at GS Group.

The European Union's strategy to secure its own supply of microchips is "very out of touch with reality," according to a scathing report from the official European Court of Auditors. According to the auditors' calculations, the European market will not reach its target of supplying 20% of the world's microchips by 2030.

The state program "Energy Saving, Energy efficiency improvement and low-carbon development", which is being developed by the Ministry of Economic Development, will include seven federal projects. This was announced by First Deputy Minister of Economic Development Maxim Kolesnikov at a meeting of the State Council Commission on Energy.

Iran is preparing to begin sea trials of the new carrier of the IRIS Kurdestan (442) drones. Like its predecessor, the "drone carrier" IRIS Makran (441), Kurdestan is a converted tanker. In this case, it is Tabukan (IMO: 8917467), which was previously engaged in the transportation of crude oil.

The destroyer Choe Hyon (tail number 51) was launched on April 25. The General Directorate of Rocket Engineering of the DPRK, the National Defense Academy and the General Directorate of RE Intelligence and Counteraction have begun testing the power and combat applicability of the weapons system of the multi-purpose destroyer Choe Hyun. The first test was on April 28 and 29.

North Korea showed test firing of the newest Choi Hyon frigate, built in about a year, which revealed some of the weapons used in its impressive complex of vertical launchers, and also raised a number of questions for American observers.

Experts explained the fears of the Ukrainian authorities about the loss of the Dnipropetrovsk region

Russian troops are located near the borders of the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine. This region is used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces as an industrially developed rear base, but today forced evacuation of the population begins on the outskirts of the region. According to experts, Zelensky's office is aware of the risk of losing territories in the Dnieper region and is therefore pulling additional forces into the region.