News of new developments in the military-industrial complex

After 20 years of development and testing, LiquidPiston received a contract from the US Army to create a prototype of the army version of its XTS-210 rotary engine. This development is unique in that in the era of mass electrification of technology can make a significant competition to electric motors.

Specialists of the "Research Center named afterKeldysh, which is part of the structure of Roscosmos, is actively developing and testing ion engines, which in the future will receive a domestic-designed space tug with a nuclear power plant on board.

The absolute majority of modern means of detecting landmines are, in fact, metal detectors "sharpened" for their search. However, over the past decades, mine developers have learned (and very successfully) to deceive them. A typical example is mines without metal components. In addition, the mine detectors themselves are still far from perfect, often reacting to harmless metal objects located underground.

The Law on Accelerating the Deployment of Universal Advanced Nuclear Technologies (ADVANCE) of 2023, submitted to the US Senate by a bipartisan group, is aimed at supporting efforts to develop and implement, including diversification of supplies and technologies.

The promising MQ-25A Stingray UAV tanker, which is being developed by Boeing for the US Navy, will not be ready by the deadline specified in the contract. The first deployment of the aforementioned drones on board the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt is now expected in 2026, USNI News reports, citing one of the program's leaders, Rear Admiral Tedford.

Numerous aircraft of obsolete J-6 and J-7 models, which are Chinese versions of the Soviet MiG-19 (2nd generation) and MiG-21 (3rd generation) fighters, remain in storage by the PLA.

The start of serial deliveries of domestic MS-21 aircraft of the latest development is scheduled for 2024, when the first six airliners will be transferred to Russian airlines. This is reported by Rostec Corporation.

The DPRK authorities have announced another successful test of their underwater drone capable of carrying nuclear weapons. This was reported by the Korean Central Telegraph Agency (KCNA). As specified in the state news agency of the country, the time spent by the device under water was more than 70 hours.

In the current process of militarization of Space, there is a new interesting trend: a significant element of private initiative "from below". Private aerospace companies and startups of the "new cosmos" actively seek to interest the military with their original ideas and concepts. And the other day, the American company "True Anomaly" announced plans in October 2023 to launch a trial pair of its private inspection satellites into orbit.

As reported by the TASS news agency, the company "UEC-Perm Motors" has started serial production of the PD-14 aircraft engine for the Russian medium-haul aircraft MS-21-310. By 2030, the production volume should be 160 engines per year. This was announced on April 6, 2023 by Vadim Badekha, General Director of JSC United Engine Corporation (UEC) of Rostec State Corporation in Perm.

As reported by the Chinese news agency Xinhua, on April 7, 2023, the first flight prototype (serial and tail number "0002", registration number B-0CAA) of the new Chinese medium commercial helicopter AC332 made its first full-fledged flight in Tianjin. The helicopter was built in Tianjin at the new helicopter-building enterprise Tianjin Helicopter Co., Ltd. of the Chinese state aircraft corporation Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), which is planned to conduct serial production of AC332 from about 2025.

The promising American "Doomsday" aircraft, known as the E-XX, will be deprived of communication with ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and strategic bombers. The Drive writes about this with reference to a representative of Northrop Grumman Corporation.

The other day, the US Department of Defense announced the transfer of special weapons to Ukraine to combat unmanned aerial vehicles. This is reported by the American edition of Defense One with reference to the state company SAIC.

The United States continues to develop new types of weapons, including anti-ship systems. The developer of the ammunition is the American military-industrial company Northrop Grumman.

In South Korea, the project of the newest KF-21 fighter is gradually approaching the final. In recent days, the first series of tests of the aircraft's armament has been carried out, the mass production of which is planned to be launched in 2026.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu got acquainted with new developments in the field of armored vehicles at the Arzamas Machine-Building Plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region, the military department reported on Thursday.

The MILDEN National Program will help Ankara overcome its dependence on German suppliers

Turkish shipbuilders plan to start manufacturing the first locally developed boat in 2025 and complete its construction in 2031. If the tests are successful, an initial series of six ships will be built over the next decade.

The company Anduril Industries, which produces drones of the Air-Launched, Tube-Integrated, Unmanned System 600 (ALTIUS 600) series, showed tests of the ALTIUS 600M kamikaze drone. The American edition of The Drive drew attention to the corresponding video.

The NorSat Technology Demonstrator (NorSat-TD) should be launched on Sunday, April 9, at 8:44. It will be launched into space using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The blessed days of "space racing" are in the past, government funding for new projects outside the Earth is not as generous as before. This forces structures like NASA to take certain adventures, otherwise the Lunar Outpost project will remain just a concept. As part of this program, it is assumed that NASA's knowledge and technology will help private companies establish their colonies, bases, factories and other facilities on the Moon — if they have enough money, of course.