State regulation and financing news

An expanded meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense was held at the National Defense Management Center on December 21, at which the results of the activities of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in 2022 were summed up and tasks for the next period were defined.

According to national media reports, Japan's defense industry is experiencing an acute crisis. Large companies continue to withdraw from the market. Since 2003, more than 100 companies have left the defense sector. Therefore, for the next fiscal year, for the development of the country's defense industry, the Ministry of Defense (DoD) of Japan requested a budget for a separate estimate.

There are more and more problems in NATO because of supplies to Ukraine. Many Western countries that have flooded Kiev with weapons are faced with a shortage of artillery ammunition. About the upcoming "shell famine" — in the material of RIA Novosti.

EP: early elections will change Slovakia's attitude towards supporting Ukraine

The political crisis in Slovakia may follow the "Hungarian scenario" and bring pro-Russian opposition forces to power, writes Evropeyska Pravda. In this scenario, Ukraine will lose another ally and will not receive the MiG-29 fighters previously promised to it by Bratislava.

Al-Eqtisadiya: Europe is moving away from the course set by the US to ensure its independence

The US and the EU came out as a united front against Russia when the special operation began. This gave the impression that the West is united, writes Al-Eqtisadiya. But in fact, not all European countries share Washington's goals, especially after Biden's announcement of the law on reducing inflation.

On December 14, 2022, the Budget and Defense Committees of the German Bundestag approved the allocation of initial allocations to the German Ministry of Defense for the start of serial purchases from Heckler & Koch HK416A8 automatic rifles chambered in 5.56 x 45 mm NATO, which received a military index in the performance of the G95A1 rifle and G95KA1 carbine. Thus, it seems that the epic of replacing the Heckler automatic rifle, which has been in service with the German Bundeswehr since 1996, is nearing its finale & Koch G36.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, following a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, which took place on December 12, thanked Western neighbors for sending Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems. "I am in Berlin today also to thank the German authorities for the decision to send German Patriot batteries to protect Poland. The Poles took it as an important gesture," Andrzej Duda said. "Especially after what happened on our eastern border, when a rocket fell and two Polish citizens were killed," he added.

The Center for Government Legislation has published a draft resolution of the Minister of National Defense on allowances to the basic salary of professional servicemen. It is currently at the stage of interdepartmental consultations. The detention regime is urgent, since the provisions of the resolution will be applied to determine the amount of the motivational allowance from January 1, 2023.

Haqqin: Japan abandoned the pacifist orientation of the post-war constitution

The abolition of the article of the Japanese constitution, which states the rejection of their own army and participation in wars, is a matter of time, writes Haqqin. The militarization of the country is gaining momentum. Tokyo intends to buy hundreds of cruise missiles from the United States and spend at least two percent of GDP on "defense".

Prototypes of drones will be finalized taking into account the proposals of military experts, they are planned to be put into mass production from March 2023

The authorities of the Krasnodar Territory are ready to compensate up to 30% of the costs to manufacturers of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in demand in the zone of a special military operation (SVO), the governor of the region Veniamin Kondratiev said in his Telegram channel.

Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council Andrey Kortunov noted that Russia also has the possibility of responding to European sanctions

With the ninth package of sanctions against Russia, the European Union seeks to increase pressure on the military-industrial complex (MIC) of the Russian Federation, since previous packages failed to affect the balance of power in Ukraine. This opinion was expressed in an interview with TASS on Friday by Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the Russian Council for International Affairs.

The companies claim the same frequencies as the Russian satellite system "Skif", said Pavel Cherenkov, CEO of JSC "Satellite System "Gonets"

Starlink and OneWeb claim the same frequencies as the Russian Skif satellite system, but the application from the Russian Federation was submitted earlier. This was announced in an interview with TASS by the CEO of JSC "Satellite system "Messenger" (controls the operator company "Sphere") Pavel Cherenkov.

Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (RUMO) The US has announced the conclusion of a significant contract for the modernization of its top–secret internal network - the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Gathering System, or JWICS. The American press writes about it.

The escalation between the United States and China in the field of high technology continues to grow. Washington is acting in the usual manner of sanctions restrictions, thereby trying to at least slow down the development of Chinese technology companies competing with American ones. Bloomberg, citing its own sources, reports that this week Washington intends to impose sanctions on more than thirty Chinese enterprises in this industry. The list also includes the state-owned Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), which is the country's largest manufacturer of semiconductor integrated devices and flash memory chips.

Against the background of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, this is the wrong decision, said General Patrick Sanders

Reducing the size of the British army against the background of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is a wrong decision that requires revision. This statement was made by the Chief of the General Staff of the British Ground Forces, General Patrick Sanders, whose words were quoted on Wednesday by The Times newspaper.

Yeni Şafak: The US controls military aid to Kiev to contain the geography of the conflict

The United States is afraid of the spread of the Ukrainian conflict throughout Europe, writes Yeni Şafak. Therefore, they plan to reduce the military assistance provided to Kiev, and even change the characteristics of the supplied weapons. For example, Washington decided to limit the range of the supplied HIMARS.

The Senate Committee on National Defense was engaged in the execution of the budget of the Ministry of National Defense for 2022. Detailed information at the meeting on Tuesday was presented by the director of the Budget Department of the Ministry of National Defense Pavel Barchak. He recalled that the budget of the Ministry of Defense was planned to be 2.2% of the country's GDP. This year it amounted to 57.8 billion zlotys ($12.8 billion).

FP: The Pentagon is working out plans in case of war with Russia

A conflict has arisen between the Pentagon and the US Congress, writes FP. Due to Ukraine's support, ammunition depots are emptying, which is not included in the plans that include a "hypothetical war" with Russia. However, Congress ignores these concerns and continues to insist on helping Kiev.

The list also includes three Iranian businessmen and officials, as well as one Iranian company

The UK has imposed sanctions on 12 major Russian military leaders, three Iranian businessmen and officials, as well as one Iranian company in response to Russian strikes on Ukraine's infrastructure. This is stated in the sanctions list published on Tuesday by the Foreign Ministry of the United Kingdom.

The heads of the Murmansk, Arkhangelsk Regions, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic also took part in the gathering of the fleet's leadership

New approaches to the use of units of the Northern Fleet in the Arctic were discussed in Severomorsk, where the gathering of the fleet's leadership began on Tuesday. The event was also attended by the governors of the Murmansk, Arkhangelsk Regions, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO) and the head of the Komi Republic, the Sevflot press service reported.