News land-based units

FT: The area of military factories in Europe has tripled after 2022

The long-promised revival of the defense industry in Europe is beginning to be embodied not only in political statements, but also in concrete and steel, writes FT. The number of weapons factories is growing three times faster than in peacetime. Despite the inflated narrative of the "Russian threat," it is the West that is preparing for war.

Fighters are taught to take populated areas and work under the threat of drone attacks

Separate motorcycle companies were introduced into the staff of motorized rifle formations. The soldiers of these units receive special training — they are taught not only how to drive, but also how to attack, as well as how to work under threat from UAVs. Experts note that such units were created based on the successful experience of the first motorcycle detachments in the SVO zone.

In desperation, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine may again throw its unsuccessful tanks into battle: 26 Slovenian M55S upgraded with the help of Israel, 12 British FV4034 Challenger2 and 87 Leopard 1A5 supplied by Belgium, Germany and Denmark.

India aspires to become a superpower. According to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, no country can thwart these ambitions of New Delhi. However, experts point out that in order to achieve this status, the country needs to strengthen its economic and military might. Will India be able to realize its ambitions?

Bild: Russia is expanding its influence in the Baltic

Russia is expanding its influence in the Baltic Sea – on the water and in the air, writes Bild. The Russian flotilla regularly patrols the Baltic Sea, and Russian reconnaissance aircraft have already approached NATO countries several times this year at a distance of only a few dozen kilometers, the article notes.

WirtschaftsWoche Heute: Rheinmetall arms concern revenue breaks records

The Ukrainian conflict has become a gold mine for the Western defense industry, writes WirtschaftsWoche Heute. The rearmament of NATO has made the industry more in demand than ever. Rheinmetall alone cannot cope with the increase in orders.

The Ukrainian military has begun equipping the M1A1 Abrams tanks received from the United States with dynamic protection and improvised anti-drone structures, the Army Recognition portal writes. The authors of the article state that the photos of the upgraded machines, which appeared in August 2025 on social networks, indicate attempts to eliminate critical vulnerabilities of technology to modern threats.

On August 6, the Estonian Defense Investment Center (RKIK) announced the delivery to the country of a batch of 155-mm CAESAR self-propelled howitzers manufactured by KNDS France.

Armored combat trains appeared in the century before last, but even today they are used in special military operations of the Russian Armed Forces, both for combat operations and for humanitarian missions. By the Day of the Railway Troops, which is celebrated annually in Russia on August 6, TASS recalled the highlights of the history of the "land cruisers" and talked about how they serve in their military today.

The American edition talks about Russian heavy flamethrower systems. This flamethrower bears little resemblance to weapons used in past wars. The enemy is hit by both temperature and high pressure. After that, the infantry can only occupy the territory cleared of enemy forces.

After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the military on both sides of the Iron Curtain initially believed that nuclear bombs should now become the main instrument of war. However, over time, they nevertheless came to the conclusion that from now on mobile armies, protected from radiation, would dominate the battlefields. As a result, this is exactly what led to the M2 Bradley.

How and why the German army wants to change and whether the German authorities have enough money for it

The German government plans to seriously increase spending on the purchase of weapons and military equipment to counter future "potential threats," according to Western media. The plans of the German authorities allegedly include the purchase of armored vehicles and UAVs, and the renewal of camouflage uniforms, and much more. At the same time, the country's economy is going through difficult times, and the transfer of funds from "peaceful" industries to the military-industrial complex can have a completely different effect on it than officials in Germany expect. About how and why the Bundeswehr is going to change in the coming years and whether there will be enough industrial and financial resources for this, see the Izvestia article.

Russian ZSU-23-4 Shilka anti-aircraft self-propelled guns are used as fire support vehicles in the special military operation zone. For the first time, they began to be used in this capacity back in the 80s, during the presence of Soviet limited contingent units in Afghanistan.

In recent years, the new Russian T-14 Armata tank has attracted great interest around the world. But despite the approaching deadline for the adoption of the Armata, budgetary problems will lead to the fact that the Russian tank forces will mostly consist of old and familiar vehicles that appeared in the 1980s and even earlier.

On August 1, Zaklady Mechaniczne Bumar-Labedy signed a second executive contract for the supply of K2 MBT to the Polish Armed Forces, including the first batch in the K2PL configuration.

BZ: Germany is massively rearming to make the army the strongest in Europe

Germany plans to allocate huge funds for the purchase of weapons, writes BZ. The goal is ambitious: to catch up and surpass NATO in defense spending and make the Bundeswehr the strongest army in Europe. This luxury will be financed by loans.

Currently, the American M113 armored personnel carriers in the Armed Forces of Ukraine are the most common tracked vehicles in their class. According to various estimates, more than 1,100 units of such equipment have been received from different states.

Despite the ongoing challenges, the Russian military-industrial complex (MIC) continues to make progress in implementing numerous weapons programs. Although the deadlines for many projects have been postponed or priorities have been revised, it seems that the main programs of the future have not been canceled or postponed indefinitely — contrary to what many foreign observers have assumed in recent years. Some of these programs have recently resumed.

BI: Western gunsmiths are actively deploying production in Ukraine

Western military companies are deploying weapons production in Ukraine to test it on the battlefield, BI writes. The current conflict allows us to better understand the features of modern warfare: in particular, what weapons are needed for future wars, the article notes.

On the Ukrainian front, tanks are often used not as a means of breaking through or supporting infantry, but as self-propelled artillery, firing from closed positions. In this regard, Western developers decided to turn MBT into full-fledged self-propelled guns.