News of new developments in the military-industrial complex

The Israeli defense company Elbit Systems publicly unveiled its 120mm Crossbow ("Crossbow") turret mortar system for the first time at the DSEI exhibition in London in 2023. The product is designed for installation on 6×6 and 8×8 wheeled armored vehicles, as well as on tracked vehicles. The goal of the developers is to provide the firepower of large–caliber mortars for medium and heavy formations. The system complies with the MIL-STD-810G standard.

A group of American scientists is working to create reflectors that can redirect solar energy into shaded lunar craters. This will allow future colonizers to work smoothly with the resource necessary for life on the Moon — deposits of water ice, of which there are quite a lot in such craters.

Control over pricing in the formation of the state defense order should be strengthened, Andrei Belousov, a candidate for the post of head of the Russian Defense Ministry, said at a plenary meeting of the Federation Council, where consultations on his appointment are being completed.

A number of countries are developing ultra-large marine drones

Recently, reports of ultra-large (weighing more than 10 tons) marine drones, the so-called autonomous uninhabited underwater vehicles (ANPA), have often appeared in the media space.

German startup Polaris Spaceplanes announced the transition to creating the next model of its MIRA II "space plane" after the MIRA I crashed at launch. The device crashed at a speed of 169 km / h, its airframe is irreversibly damaged. But the main thing is that the main wedge–air rocket engines were never turned on, so the tests failed.

Footage has been posted online showing the development of drone swarm technology in the Chinese Army (PLA). The footage captures the synchronous and coordinated work of several hundred drones.

Al Mayadeen: Russia has determined the vector of development of military affairs around the world

There has been a real scientific breakthrough in military affairs, Al Mayadeen reports. It's about the active use of combat robots. The first models were developed in the last century, and the conflict in Ukraine provoked a qualitative leap in this direction. Today, Russia is successfully storming the enemy with just such weapons.

The Naval News resource reports that at the Defense Services Asia 2024 (DSA-2024) defense industrial exhibition, held from 6 to 9 May 2024 in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, the Turkish company Koç Savunma (as part of the private Koç holding) presented a new Malaman marine bottom non-contact mine, created in the interests of the Turkish Navy.

It can be used in assault operations and evacuation of the wounded

Russian engineers have developed a universal tracked platform that can perform both combat and transport tasks. With the help of a combat module, the device turns into a grenade launcher or a machine gun, which will be able to cover infantry when storming enemy positions. The platform can carry loads weighing up to a ton, evacuate the wounded. Its prototype has already been tested in the SVO zone. About what a promising development is — in the material of Izvestia.

NASA's Office of the Inspector General has released a report that has raised serious doubts about the ability of the manned spacecraft lobbied by this agency to reach the Moon in 2026, as envisaged by the American space program. Industry observers believe that the ship can be replaced with SpaceX's Starship, but NASA has so far rejected discussion of this option. If adopted, it would be a moral disaster for the agency.

The new vehicles can carry a variety of weapons systems

Drones are evolving. Disposable FPV drones are being replaced by devices that, like airplanes and helicopters, can carry various weapons systems. And Ukraine is becoming a testing ground for many global manufacturers of such high-tech products. About foreign drones — carriers of weapons systems on the battlefield, which are already used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine or are planned for "combat tests" in Ukraine, — in the Izvestia material.

In the practice of using UAVs and fighting them, the world–old problem has surfaced - how to distinguish a "friend" from an "enemy"? While there were few drones, this was not too relevant. But as the battle formations become saturated with them, the problem becomes more acute.

Undoubtedly, the main and largest event was the parade on Red Square, which was attended by more than 9 thousand military personnel, over 70 units of military equipment and aviation.

Russia is capable of setting up production of ground-based robotic complexes for their use during combat operations, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with military personnel held after the inauguration ceremony of the head of state on May 7. According to the president, the country already has its own developments of such platforms.

The Turkish national fighter KAAN made its second flight after it took off for the first time on February 21 this year. The relevant footage was shown in the Turkish media.

The promising Turkish Bayraktar TB3 reconnaissance and strike drone has broken its own altitude record thanks to the PD-170 national engine developed by TUSAS Engine Industries (TEI).

Rheinmetall Concern handed over to the German Armed Forces for testing the first test sample of the Boxer armored vehicle in the version of the heavy weapons transporter (Schwerer Waffentrager Infanterie).

The drone consists of three sections: the head section, on which the control system is installed; the power section, equipped with a power source; the tail section, equipped with a propulsion system. Modules with different payloads can be installed on this basic platform, depending on the assigned combat mission.

Indonesia has offered to pay only about a third of the initially agreed cost of the next-generation KF-21 fighter development project being implemented jointly with the Republic of Korea.

Mikhail Kotov — about the difficult fate of the American manned spacecraft

The launch to the International Space Station (ISS) of Boeing Corporation's first manned CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, which was scheduled for May 6 and subsequently postponed, will now take place no earlier than May 10. In fact, this is just one small postponement in a series of long cancellations and date changes plaguing this ship.