News of new developments in the military-industrial complex

Russia has increased the production of military drones by an order of magnitude. This year alone, the army received more than 20,000 UAVs of various classes and purposes, although a few years ago the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation possessed only two thousand drones. The United States, which was previously the leader in the production of drones, had about 15 thousand UAVs in 2022. Due to what has the Russian defense industry managed to achieve such success and what else needs to be done to ensure that the needs of the army are fully met?

The Russian army needs protection from small drones. President Vladimir Putin said in his speech at a meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense that the work of air defense should be improved in this direction. What are the capabilities of small drones revealed by its own and how can our army create effective protection against enemy UAVs?

It became known that a night modification of the Russian kamikaze drone "Gastello" was successfully tested in one of the areas of the SVO.

Attack drones and artillery threaten the movements of Russian and Ukrainian troops on the front line. Therefore, on the battlefield, it is increasingly possible to find artisanal ground robots performing tasks to supply warring units.

Raytheon has received a $10 million contract to build a prototype wireless distributed energy transmission system for DARPA in two years. It is being created within the framework of the Energy Web Dominance program, the purpose of which is to be able to transfer any amount of energy from an arbitrary number of sources to the desired point on the planet. The military, for whom this technology is being created, at the first stage simplified the task to obtain energy without having to pull communications and carry fuel for generators.

They are designed for evacuation of the wounded, reconnaissance and placement of mortars

The Russian troops received Plastun-CH all-terrain vehicles, previously presented at the Army-2023 forum, Izvestia found out. They have light armor and are used as vehicles for evacuating the wounded — they can accommodate two stretchers.

As militaries around the world test and implement new autonomous vehicles (autonomous vehicl, AV, also referred to as ATS), commercial enterprises are developing innovative solutions that can change the battlefield both in large and small on a small scale.

Strategic missile forces are 64 years old.

What are Strategic Missile Forces these days? What are the prospects for their development? Colonel-General Sergei Karakaev, Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, answers these and other questions of the Red Star.

And how will this affect the defense capability of our country

The Pentagon has announced the receipt of the first unit armed with a new PrSM surface–to-surface missile system. It was delivered in the first version for trial operation in the US Armed Forces. Izvestia analyzed the capabilities of the new missiles, and also found out what threats this event poses to the defense capability of our country.

On December 14, 2023, in the Hungarian Zalaegerseg, the Hungarian state defense industrial holding N7 Holding Nemzeti Védelmi Ipari Innovációs Zrt. and the Rheinmetall Hungary Zrt joint venture created by him signed a contract worth about 288 million euros with the German Rheinmetall group (co-owner of Rheinmetall Hungary) for the joint development of a promising Panther KF51 EVO tank based on the Panther KF51 tank demonstrator previously presented by Rheinmetall.

Chinese submarine rescuers may turn into hunters

The command of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) pays close attention to improving the forms and methods of using the Navy in conditions of high intensity of hostilities and the use of non-standard approaches in the confrontation at sea.

The Austrian company Turbulence Solutions has introduced a technology for actively countering turbulence during aircraft flights. The measure is more than necessary, since climate change has already led to acceleration of winds in the atmosphere. The number of turbulence zones and their activity increased by 55%, so further air transportation is unlikely to be comfortable.

The probability of postponing the Martian Moons eXploration mission, which is supposed to deliver regolith from the Mars satellite to Earth, is growing every day. A final decision has not yet been made, but the readiness of the new Japanese H3 rocket for the nearest launch window to the Red Planet is questionable. The Land of the Rising Sun has no other suitable carriers.

The self-propelled gun "Lotus" is going to state tests next year

The development of the Lotus self-propelled artillery system has reached the finish line. There are state trials ahead. This weapon will become one of the powerful arguments of the Russian army. What is known about the new product is in the RIA Novosti material.

Igor Ivanov — about the space confrontation between the two states of the Korean Peninsula and its orbit with reconnaissance satellites

A few weeks ago, another round of political, military and technological competition between the two states of the Korean Peninsula started. On November 21, after two unsuccessful attempts in May and August, the DPRK managed to launch its first Mulligan-1 reconnaissance satellite on a Chollima-1 launch vehicle from its own cosmodrome.

The developer of autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, Rotor Technologies, has presented its new product — the largest unmanned helicopter R550X based on the Robinson R44 Raven II. Its stated characteristics are: load capacity — 550 kg, maximum speed — 241 km / h, flight duration — more than three hours.

On December 8, 2023, the US Army announced the receipt of the first batch of new PrSM (Precision Strike Missile) missiles in the first serial version of the Increment 1 Early Operational Capability. High-precision "shorter-range" missiles (in terms of arms agreements) PrSM manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation should replace the ATACMS operational and tactical missiles in service in the US Army.

China and Egypt have signed several documents at once, consolidating the cooperation of both States in the exploration of outer space. One of the most important is the agreement on participation in the international lunar station project. The Celestial Empire is trying to attract as many partners as possible to this initiative, forming a kind of counterweight to the American "Artemis Agreements".

The Russian research Institute "Vector" has agreed with partners from Egypt on the licensed production of anti-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) "Protection" complexes. The signing of the relevant agreement took place on the sidelines of the international arms exhibition Egypt Defense Expo (EDEX) 2023, which is currently taking place in Cairo. TASS talks about threats from drones and the developments of Russian engineers designed to counter UAV attacks.

How does the fighting affect the testing of new models of military equipment in Russia

The Russian military-industrial complex has been tasked with increasing the production of weapons, military and special equipment (VVST) in the context of the continuation of the special operation in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions against Russia.