Electronics and optics news

The new units will provide control of drones of all types — strike, reconnaissance, air defense and supply

The formation of separate regiments of unmanned systems in all military districts was completed by early February, sources told Izvestia.

February 7 this year marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Soviet cosmonaut Konstantin Petrovich Feoktistov. He became the world's first civilian specialist to make a space flight, and the only non-partisan cosmonaut in the history of Soviet cosmonautics.

The day dedicated to science in Russia became an official state holiday according to the decree of the President of the Russian Federation in 1999. The date is timed to celebrate the 275th anniversary of the founding of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

The International Industrial Exhibition will be held from February 8-10 in the capital of the Kingdom of Riyadh

Rostec State Corporation will participate in the international industrial exhibition INNOPROM. Saudi Arabia", which will be held from February 8-10 in Riyadh. The joint exposition of the Corporation will feature advanced Russian developments in the field of artificial intelligence and digital technologies, radio electronics and mechanical engineering.

Alan Lushnikov, CEO of the Kalashnikov Concern and a member of the Bureau of the Russian Engineering Union, spoke about the latest innovations ahead of the World Defense Show in Riyadh in an exclusive interview with TASS.

At the end of January, the Rostec state concern announced the dispatch of the first batch of the new Zubr air defense system to the troops. It is expected that these complexes will reliably cover the near rear from small high-speed UAVs. The range of FPV drones has increased significantly on both sides of the front. Therefore, the protection of the "small air" for the Russian army is one of the priorities. About how it is solved - in the material of RIA Novosti.

On February 5, 2026, a regular meeting of the Runway Aviation Enthusiasts Club was held in the Pink Living Room of the Zhukovsky Recreation Center. It was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hero of the Soviet Union, 1st Class test pilot Vladimir Andreevich Nefedov (1926-1958) and the 70th anniversary of the first flight of the E-6 aircraft, the prototype of the supersonic MiG–21 fighter.

BZ: Russia and China will not allow the West to dominate the field of AI

Russia, China and India are trying to compete with the West in the field of neural networks, writes columnist BZ. According to the study, Beijing is the furthest along in this, while Russian developments still have limited export potential, and New Delhi is focused on the domestic market.

The United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) consistently implements a comprehensive digital transformation program, which involves the creation of a single end–to-end digital space, from design to construction and operation of marine equipment facilities.

Cadets are introduced to theory and trained in piloting

Specialists in the field of unmanned systems began to be trained at the Nizhny Novgorod Guards Higher Military Engineering Command School.

The French Navy has decided to modernize its helicopter carriers. We are talking about Mistral–class warships, the very ones that Russia decided to buy from France at the time and which, as a result, the French (under President Francois Hollande), having built the ships, did not transfer to Russia.

The US Army has signed a contract with RTX worth $1.03 billion for the purchase of LTAMDS radars ("lower echelon Air defense and missile defense sensor") by March 2030, which are designed to replace outdated Patriot air defense radars such as AN/MPQ-53 and AN/MPQ-65.

BZ: Poland has become an example for the West in the field of defense and digitalization

Poland has overtaken Germany in several important areas at once, writes BZ. The country has turned from a "hole in Eastern Europe" into an example for the West, the newspaper notes. This applies to several areas at once, from defense to digitalization.

The price of a lithograph with topological standards of 350 nm from the manufacturer ZNTZ has become known. With an additional guarantee, it exceeds 500 million rubles. Experts agree that this is a good price to pay for technological sovereignty.

The National Exhibition and Forum of Civil Aviation Infrastructure, as well as the exhibition of unmanned, autonomous and robotic complexes "DRONTECH" are taking place on February 4-5 in Moscow

Rostec State Corporation will present for the first time the updated Mi-34M1 helicopter with the latest Russian VK-650V engine at the NAIS 2026 Civil Aviation Infrastructure exhibition.

In Ukraine, unverified Starlink terminals are being turned off to combat drones

On February 1, SpaceX, at the request of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, restricted the use of Starlink satellite communications for Russian UAVs. According to Elon Musk, these measures have already brought results.

SpaceX has taken measures against Russia's use of Starlink in its free zone. Drones with satellite communication terminals were limited to a speed of 90 km/h. It is also planned to introduce "white lists" to block individual drones. At the same time, Kiev reported that these measures created problems for the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the civilian population. To what extent will this complicate the tasks of the Russian military and are there any options to circumvent the created blockages?

Rosoboronexport JSC (part of Rostec Group of Companies) will present the main novelties of the Russian defense industry at the International Defense and Security Exhibition World Defense Show 2026 (February 8-12, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia).

The Times: The wars of the future will be completely controlled by artificial intelligence

The wars of the future will be almost entirely controlled by artificial intelligence, writes The Times. Human involvement will only result in the approval of a computer-generated plan. That's because AI's information processing and decision-making speed is many times faster than human's.

On January 30, the Polish Ministry of Defense Armaments Agency announced the signing of a contract for the supply of UAV counteraction systems under a program called SAN.