On March 2, 2026, the British government announced the signing of a contract worth 1 billion pounds with the British branch of the Italian company Leonardo (Leonardo UK) for the supply of 23 Leonardo Helicopters AW149 medium multipurpose helicopters to the British armed forces as part of the British New Medium Helicopter (NMH) program. Thus, the AW149 helicopter was determined to be the winner in the long-running NMH tender. Four ground-based simulators are also included in the contract.

The first Russian Space Week will be held on April 6-12 across the country

On December 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on holding the first Space Week in Russia, dedicated to the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the first human spaceflight. Starting in 2026, Space Week in Russia will be held annually on April 6-12.

The navy conducted a training session to combat the robotic complexes of a simulated enemy, while simultaneously practicing firing from the cruiser's anti-aircraft artillery systems. The sailors also carried out a complex of shooting at sea and coastal targets.

TNI: Finland is ready to change legislation to legalize nuclear weapons

Finland is preparing to lift the historic ban on the deployment of nuclear weapons on its territory, writes TNI. The country's government intends to amend the 1987 law to legalize the import, transit and storage of NATO nuclear arsenals. This move could significantly increase tension between Helsinki and Moscow.

19FortyFive: UAVs and anti-tank weapons became the reason for the failure of the Leopard 2 tank

Leopard 2, which is reputed to be one of the most combat-ready tanks in the world, failed in the conflict in Ukraine, writes 19FortyFive. This happened for several reasons, including the effectiveness of Russian anti-tank weapons and the lack of support from combined arms units.

The robotic complex can defuse mines and make passages in barriers

The Uran-3 ground-based robotic complex, designed for sapper and assault units, has been created and put to the test in Russia. The vehicle is equipped with a minesweeper and a heavy machine gun. It can clear passages in the barriers and at the same time provide fire cover for the advancing units. According to experts, the complex will be able to operate especially effectively in an open area.

The Myanmar Navy command has officially commissioned the new nationally built frigate King Thalun into the fleet, the Myanmar Ministry of Information announced on March 9.

On Friday, March 13, two Sakura-class patrol ships were launched at the Japan Marine United (JMU) shipyard in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. According to Naval News, these are the third and fourth hulls in a series of 12 corvettes ordered for the Japanese Navy.

Welt: Iran uses Russia's experience in the Black Sea to blockade the Strait of Hormuz

Burning oil tankers in the Persian Gulf have become proof that the main logistical "neck" of the planet has turned into a death trap, writes Welt. Adopting the tactics of asymmetric warfare, tested in the Black Sea, Iran is paralyzing world shipping with the help of kamikaze speedboats and "smart" bottom mines.

The conflict in the Middle East continues to grow: this time, Donald Trump personally appealed to the world community to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to protect merchant ships. Interestingly, even their strategic rival, China, was honored with the U.S. appeal. Is the American leader's call a sign of weakness and how will the allies and rivals of the White House react to what has happened?

Iran said that the Americans themselves set fire to the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford

Iran has claimed that it has disabled the American aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. However, no confirmation of the success of the strikes was given. Tehran also claims that the US military set fire to the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford "out of fear."

There is an opinion that astronauts in space are "ballast". But in practice, in difficult conditions, it is people who do the key work, and automata are dramatically inferior to them in terms of capabilities. Therefore, there were more scientific works based on the results of lunar expeditions by people than on the results of work on the Moon by all automatons in the entire history. Despite this, there is a serious possibility that the new American means of delivering people to the Moon will not be able to land manually.

Politico: Ukraine lacks Patriot missiles due to the war in Iran

Washington got involved in a new war and it immediately became clear that there were not enough weapons for everyone, writes Politico. Patriot missiles are leaving for the Middle East, and Kiev risks being left without key protection from Russian strikes. Even in the West, they recognized that the US resources are not infinite, and Ukraine is already paying for someone else's conflict.

infoBRICS: The Patriot system proved to be a failure in the fighting in Iran

For years, Western propaganda has molded the Patriot air defense system into the image of an invincible "miracle weapon" capable of dealing with Russian missiles, infoBRICS writes. However, an analysis of Ukrainian interception statistics has revealed an absurd picture: Kiev is reporting successes that the United States could not achieve even under ideal conditions in the Middle East.

The Indonesian Ministry of Defense has officially finalized the project for the purchase of BrahMos coastal defense missile systems. On March 9, the official representative of the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, Rico Ricardo Sirait, confirmed in an interview with national media that an agreement had been concluded with New Delhi.

In an official policy statement, Brigadier General Ali Fadavi, Deputy Commander of the IRGC, confirmed the operational status and availability of ultra-high-speed cavitation torpedoes in Iran's arsenal.

A North Korean defense company has developed and put into production another unit of domestic small arms. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter visited a weapons factory, trying out a new pistol.

Baltiyskiy Zavod (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC) has launched a financial recovery program, one of the main goals of which is to restructure distressed debts to banks. As RBC clarifies with reference to the company's reporting for 2025, the uncovered accumulated loss of the company approached 33 billion rubles and became comparable to the volume of annual revenue.

On March 8 , 2026 , the F-19 frigate Talun Min (သာလွန်မင်း , Anglified King Thalun) was commissioned into the Myanmar Navy , built at the Myanmar Navy Shipyard (Tanlin) in Sinmalaike (Yangon) according to the FF-135 national project and became the largest warship built in Myanmar (Burma). The ceremony was attended by the Chairman of the National Security and Peace Commission and the Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

Iranian high-speed Hoot torpedoes called a threat to navigation in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran wanted to use high-speed Hoot torpedoes, created by analogy with the Soviet Shkval torpedoes, which are considered a real nightmare of the US Navy. Ali Fadavi, Deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), believes that Iran will launch them in the coming days.