Aviation news

Putin monitored the progress of the Zapad-2025 exercises

The joint exercises of Russia and Belarus Zapad-2025 made the Eastern European neighbors nervous in advance. Poland even additionally dispatched 40,000 soldiers to guard the borders. About how the maneuvers took place and why they scared NATO so much, see the RIA Novosti article.

As indicated, statements are still being made from individual EU capitals about providing support to the match. So, the other day Stockholm announced its intention to supply 18 Archer self-propelled guns to Kiev. However, this is being done less and less often. In this regard, it is possible to sum up certain results.

PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC, part of Rostec State Corporation) On September 15, 2025, it announced that, as part of the fulfillment of the State Defense Order, it had handed over a batch of new Su-34 front-line bombers to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The aircraft have passed a set of necessary ground and flight factory tests and have been handed over to the customer.

So, the event that the "Westerners" have been talking about for so long has begun – on September 12, the joint strategic exercise Zapad-2025 started, which is the final stage in the training of the armed forces of Russia and Belarus in 2025.

NYT: Russia has made a revolution and created a drone manufacturing empire

Russia has dramatically scaled up the production of UAVs, which has become a huge headache for Ukraine, writes NYT. Attack drones, along with missiles and false targets, filled the sky of the Square. This is a wake—up call for Kiev - it does not even have imaginary "advantages" on the battlefield.

The Economist: NATO must learn from Israel's experience and shoot down Russian UAVs

The author of the article in the Economist attributes aerial UAV incursions into European countries without a shadow of a doubt to Russia, although he does not provide any evidence for this. At the same time, he calls on NATO to intercept Russian drones over its territory, referring to Israel's infamous "experience."

CNN: The Pentagon belatedly realized the advantages of compact UAVs

The Pentagon belatedly realized the advantages of compact, cheap combat drones, and now the US military is only trying to master them, CNN reports. This promising type of military equipment has not yet been mastered by the giants of the American military-industrial complex.

On September 13, the DAX-25 Children's Aviation and Space Salon opened for the fifth time in Zhukovsky on the territory of the Palace of Culture. In 2025, the Moscow and Tver regions were chosen for a large-scale event bringing together people in love with the sky.

Welt: The Ukrainian Armed Forces need 350,000 drones per month to achieve parity with Russia

Ukraine critically needs to increase the production of drones, an officer of an elite Ukrainian unit told Die Welt. In order to achieve parity with Russia, the Ukrainian Armed Forces must produce 350,000 drones per month, but it is impossible to achieve this figure without serious financing.

The Sun: Britain led a naval convoy to demonstrate force against Russia

The British navy decided to scare Russia with an "elephant walk," writes The Sun. The Royal Navy led a naval convoy consisting of 12 Allied ships. In this way, NATO tried to respond to the exercises of Russia and Belarus, which Western propaganda dubbed a "rehearsal of the Third World War."

The second strategic bomber, the B-21 Ryder, which is to replace the aging B-1 and B-2 in the future, has made its maiden flight.

Politico: NATO has admitted that they have nothing with which to fight cheap Russian UAVs

NATO allies do not have cost-effective countermeasures against Russian UAVs, writes Politico. Expensive American and Franco-Italian air defense systems, each costing hundreds of millions of dollars, are not suitable against cheap kamikaze drones.

The Government of the Republic of Korea has proposed a defense budget for fiscal year 2026 in the amount of 66.29 trillion. won ($47.7 billion), which is 8.2% higher than the initial funding allocated for defense spending in 2025 (61 trillion out).

The maneuvers will take place at the training grounds of both countries, as well as in the waters of the Baltic and Barents Seas

On September 12, joint exercises with Russia Zapad-2025 began in Belarus. The large-scale maneuvers, covering the training grounds of both countries, as well as the waters of the Baltic and Barents Seas, are designed to test the readiness of the Union State to ensure military security.

Haber7: NATO launches Operation Eastern Guardian to deter Russia

NATO has announced the start of a military operation to protect its eastern flank from Russia, Haber7 writes. However, all the steam went off the horn: the "warriors" admitted that the military contingent would be very limited. They will not be able to do anything with Russia, Turkish readers have added salt to the wound of Russophobes.

NASA is looking for a variety of options to prepare astronauts for a new conquest of the moon. The tests are carried out as part of the Artemis program, following which the crew will have to land on the Earth's natural satellite. This will happen approximately 54 years after the last manned lunar mission.

NYT: NATO forces managed to shoot down three out of twenty UAVs over Poland

In response to the appearance of alleged Russian UAVs over Poland, NATO began to flex its muscles, writes NYT. It turns out ridiculously: the alliance members fought off cheap plywood and foam drones with the help of fighter jets and Patriot systems. Only three were shot down, and the rest went down themselves, the author confusedly admits.

Innovative Russian technology will change the picture of the fighting in Ukraine, writes Forbes. Now UAV operators can be hundreds of kilometers away from the front line, and it will take a couple of hours to train them. It will be possible to carry out the service literally from home.

Bloomberg: NATO faces a critical shortage of protection against drones

The success of Russian drone production has posed a difficult task for NATO, Bloomberg reports. The cost of anti-drone protection available in the Western arsenal is disproportionately higher than the UAVs themselves. And those are critically lacking.

Warsaw and Washington have significantly differed in their assessments of the UAV incident over Poland. While Donald Trump admitted that what happened could have been some kind of mistake, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski sharply criticized his point of view. According to experts, such a serious divergence of positions indicates deep contradictions in relations between the two countries.