Electronics and optics news

Kiev may use F-16 fighter jets during a new offensive

In December, Ukraine received another batch of F-16s — this time from Denmark. So far, six of the 19 promised. Thus, now the Armed Forces of Ukraine has up to 20 such aircraft. In total, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands must transfer 76 fighters of this type in various modifications. In addition, 20 Mirage 2000 will be sent to France. However, it is still unclear where pilots will be hired for them.

At the beginning of next year, centralized deliveries of the device to the troops will begin

The drone detector "Birdman", developed on the initiative of volunteers, was officially adopted by the Ministry of Defense and in early 2025 will be centrally supplied to the SVO zone, Izvestia found out.

Inter-satellite laser communication channels as a solution to the problem of limited global coverage by ground stations in China

On Thursday, China successfully launched a group of satellites, probably designed to test inter-satellite laser communications. This launch was an important step in the implementation of major projects to create satellite constellations of the country.

On December 16, an expanded meeting of the Board of the Russian Defense Ministry was held in Moscow under the leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at an expanded meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense, which is taking place at the National Defense Management Center of the Russian Federation.

An expanded board of the Russian Ministry of Defense was held in Moscow. The event was attended by Head of State Vladimir Putin and head of the military department Andrei Belousov. We touched upon many topics related to the security of the country. What was discussed is in the RIA Novosti article.

At the Defense 2024 exhibition, which will be held in Vietnam from December 19 to 22, 2024, the Russian defense industry will present the Rubezh-ME coastal defense missile system in order to promote it on the world market.

The Russian Federation has developed the Kalinka system, which allows calculating the Starlink signal in its zone

The Kalinka radio direction finder has been created in Russia. This complex is capable of detecting and locating signals from Starlink-type systems. Currently, the Kalinka is being tested in combat conditions in the SVO zone. Why it is so important to fight Starlink and how Russia was going to fight satellite communication systems developed by the company of American businessman Elon Musk - in the material of the military observer "Gazeta.En" by Mikhail Khodarenka.

Ukraine has tested a promising cruise missile "Ruta"

Successful tests of the new Ruta cruise missile have been conducted in Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky said. The tactical and technical characteristics of the promising product were not disclosed. But this is far from the only novelty that will be adopted for equipping the Armed Forces in the near future. What kind of weapons Kiev is developing and what it is capable of - in the material of the military observer "Gazeta.En" by Mikhail Khodarenka.

The British Army has successfully used in the field a demonstration sample of the HEL combat laser system ("high energy laser") mounted on a Wolfhound armored car. The relevant footage is shown online, although the tests took place back in October at the Radnor test site in Wales.

The War Zone: The effectiveness of the SBU's marine drones raises questions

Ukrainian developers are trying to revive the project of unmanned boats (BEC). Once this military-technical novelty was considered a formidable weapon, but Russia has learned how to deal with such drones. How Kiev expects to fix the situation is in the RIA Novosti article.

Only a lazy person does not talk about the importance of unmanned aerial vehicles in a special military operation. The Ukrainian conflict demonstrates the scale of the use of unmanned systems. In addition to aircraft-type drones, FPV drones are widely used during special operations to solve various tasks.

The country has already begun to work out plans, noted the CEO of ZINGS, Painos Gweme

Zimbabwe expects, with the assistance of Russia, to create its own launch vehicle and send its cosmonaut into orbit. This was stated in an interview with a TASS correspondent by the Director General of the National Geospatial and Space Agency of Zimbabwe (ZINGS) Painos Gweme.

The Chinese military-themed magazine Modern Weaponry presented pictures of a new defense product – the Metal Storm mobile electromagnetic cannon, which acts as an air defense system.

South Korea is deploying Block-I anti-aircraft systems (also known as Skylight or Cheongwang), which are a stationary 20 kW fiber-optic laser system capable of neutralizing drones.

Military historian Dmitry Boltenkov — about why NATO is creating a fleet of marine drones and what Russia should expect from drones from unfriendly countries

The Supreme Commander of the NATO Joint Armed Forces for Transformation, Admiral Pierre Vandier, announced the plans of this organization to create a fleet of marine unmanned systems for monitoring and protecting the alliance's maritime infrastructure in the Baltic and Mediterranean seas.

The U.S. Marine Command has invited companies to provide solutions to protect infantry from small drones. The means of combating UAVs should be user-friendly, easy to learn, lightweight and maximally compatible with systems that are already in service.

This was reported in the local edition of Naval News. As indicated, the French frigate FREMM, equipped with new jamming systems, successfully hit a drone of Yemeni rebels in October.

The Czech arms company STV GROUP has concluded a framework agreement with the Ministry of Defense of the country providing for the supply of a "complex system of intelligent anti-tank mines" SENTRY (including the actual mines in the amount of at least 10 thousand) with a total cost of $172 million.

Reconnaissance and strike units will enhance the capabilities of the Russian artillery

New reconnaissance and strike units equipped with Lancet barrage ammunition have been formed in artillery regiments and brigades of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. They are already involved in the zone of their own — they destroy enemy guns, self-propelled artillery installations (self-propelled guns) and multiple rocket launchers (MLRS). Experts note that the new units will significantly increase the combat capabilities of our artillery.