Latest news on "Air defense"

Die Welt: The Bundeswehr has only one air defense system, and 500 are required

The Bundeswehr's biggest weakness is the lack of air defense systems, Die Welt writes. There is only one in Germany, and about 500 are required. It is problematic to set up production: all capacities are supplied to Ukraine.

MWM: Russia and Belarus practiced repelling an air attack during the exercises

At the Zapad-2025 exercises, Russia and Belarus practiced the destruction of air targets, writes MWM. The program used the S-400 and Igla missile systems. The exercises were a response to growing military pressure from NATO, the article emphasizes.

The other day, the American company Epirus announced the results of a demonstration conducted for the military of the Leonidas high-power microwave complex (HPM), which creates electromagnetic interference to combat swarms of robotic devices.

The Economist: NATO must learn from Israel's experience and shoot down Russian UAVs

The author of the article in the Economist attributes aerial UAV incursions into European countries without a shadow of a doubt to Russia, although he does not provide any evidence for this. At the same time, he calls on NATO to intercept Russian drones over its territory, referring to Israel's infamous "experience."

Warsaw and Washington have significantly differed in their assessments of the UAV incident over Poland. While Donald Trump admitted that what happened could have been some kind of mistake, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski sharply criticized his point of view. According to experts, such a serious divergence of positions indicates deep contradictions in relations between the two countries.

Cambridge Aerospace– a startup founded in Britain at the end of 2024, presented its first two products at the DSEI 2025 defense exhibition (London) – the Skyhammer and Starhammer interceptors designed to combat drones and missiles.

Bloomberg: NATO faces a critical shortage of protection against drones

The success of Russian drone production has posed a difficult task for NATO, Bloomberg reports. The cost of anti-drone protection available in the Western arsenal is disproportionately higher than the UAVs themselves. And those are critically lacking.

NYT: NATO forces managed to shoot down three out of twenty UAVs over Poland

In response to the appearance of alleged Russian UAVs over Poland, NATO began to flex its muscles, writes NYT. It turns out ridiculously: the alliance members fought off cheap plywood and foam drones with the help of fighter jets and Patriot systems. Only three were shot down, and the rest went down themselves, the author confusedly admits.

WP: Europe will strengthen its own defense, to the detriment of helping Ukraine

After the drone attack on Poland, NATO decided to pay more attention to its own security, writes WP. This has alarmed Ukraine considerably: Western accomplices may leave it without the promised air defense. "And we? What about us?" — Kiev is trying its best to remind us of itself.

Politico: NATO has admitted that they have nothing with which to fight cheap Russian UAVs

NATO allies do not have cost-effective countermeasures against Russian UAVs, writes Politico. Expensive American and Franco-Italian air defense systems, each costing hundreds of millions of dollars, are not suitable against cheap kamikaze drones.

Al Jazeera: Poland is building up its military power and creating the 3rd largest army in Europe

Poland is actively strengthening its military potential and is working to strengthen and bring together various alliances and ties, Al Jazeera reports. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has caused serious changes in the geopolitical situation and shifted the focus of NATO's attention and actions to Poland and the Baltic countries.

Colonel Khodarenok: the incident with the UAV in Poland is beneficial to Zelensky

Last night, unmanned aerial vehicles of unknown nationality crossed the state borders of Poland in the airspace. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has already rushed to blame Russia for what happened. What happened and why it is worth doubting the reliability of the data provided by Poland, argues the military observer of Gazeta.Ru", retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenok.

"It cannot be ruled out that the result of the current provocation will be the decision of the coalition of the willing to send troops to the territory of Ukraine." With these words, experts comment on the hysteria of Brussels and Kiev over drones trapped in Polish airspace. What is the essence of this incident and why is it being so actively fanned by the West?

On September 9, 2025, the Swedish defense procurement agency Försvarets materielverk (FMV) announced the purchase of Piorun portable anti-aircraft missile systems for the Swedish armed Forces from the Polish company Mesko SA, part of the Polish state defense industrial group Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa SA (PGZ).

Poland, which calls itself one of the "leaders in support of Ukraine," suddenly began to worry that it would not be possible to sit out. If Tusk and Navrotsky had previously stated that they would definitely not send their troops to Ukraine, now they are already calling the NATO Secretary General with a question about what to do.

FT: Ukraine will face a shortage of air defense systems due to a slowdown in supplies

Moscow is actively advancing — the consumption of Kiev's military reserves has accelerated significantly, writes FT. Each powerful Russian salvo forces Ukraine to use valuable interceptors and other munitions faster than the United States can replenish them.

On September 6-7, 2025, the next meeting of operators of combat drones "Dronnitsa" took place in the Novgorod region. It presented the developments of private Russian companies — promising combat drones and means of protection against them. Many are being tested in the SVO area. TASS has collected interesting novelties.

Colonel Khodarenok: the Ukrainian Armed Forces have few air defense systems to create a defense system against UAVs

The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Alexander Syrsky, said that a layered defense system against Russian attack drones is being built in the country. Military observer of "Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel Mikhail Khodarenok figured out what such a defense might look like and whether the words of the military commander are a new milestone in the organization of air defense.

Attempts to increase the launch range of long-range AIM-120 guided air-to-air missiles were made by American specialists back in 2007, however, for various reasons, these works were suspended. In 2017, Lockheed Martin launched R&D under the JATM code, within the framework of which it developed an ultra-long-range explosive device (hereinafter referred to as SBD) under the designation AIM-260A.

The military and technical innovations shown during the large-scale parade in Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II continue to be discussed all over the world. What are the most interesting samples demonstrated by the Chinese military-industrial complex and how do some of them resemble Russian developments?