Electronics and optics news

Expert Brian: Russia destroys HIMARS with Starlink and AI

Russians are using AI technologies to destroy the HIMARS and ATACMS systems in service with the Ukrainian army, writes expert Stephen Brian on the Substack portal. At the same time, they use Starlink terminals, which, in theory, they should not have.

Finnish aerospace company ICEYE, a manufacturer and operator of microsatellites, has announced agreements with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine to expand access to high-quality SAR images of its satellite constellation for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The corresponding press release was published on the company's website on January 19.

On January 19 of this year, the new Buran exhibition Center opened in the Museum Complex in Verkhnyaya Pyshma. The center's central exhibit is the preserved Buran orbiter (product 2.01), the third and most flight-ready copy of the legendary Soviet Energia-Buran program.

Drone guides help stormtroopers overcome the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, saturated with anti-tank trenches and powerful fortified areas

How calculations of Mavik drones from the special forces unit of the Southern Group of Forces operate in the Konstantinovsky direction is described in the Izvestia report.

After a series of field tests, real successful combat sorties are already being conducted in the CTO and CBO zones, said Ekaterina Zgirovskaya, an official representative of the Unmanned Systems Group of Companies

The main reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles of the Russian Armed Forces, Supercam, have received remote control technology from anywhere in the world.

Andrey Shitov — about what the year 2026 promises the world in addition to the continuation of the "cult of personality" of the US president

In world politics, the era of Donald Trump is in the yard, and the 45/47th president of the United States invariably has only one thing — the cult of his own personality. Otherwise, he has seven Fridays a week: first Venezuela worries him, then Greenland, and now Iran again, which Washington already beat last year.

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has completed the construction of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Observatory. What secrets can a new deep space exploration tool reveal? Will he be able to detect life in other worlds? Will Russian observers take advantage of its opportunities? TASS investigated the issue.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are grasping at any straws to protect themselves from Russian air strikes

Ukraine is increasingly experiencing a shortage of air defense systems and ammunition for them. Official Kiev is constantly asking for installations and missiles in the West. Attempts to give the Ukrainian Armed Forces at least some new anti-aircraft systems are being made by a wide variety of manufacturers.

On January 8, the Saudi Ministry of Defense announced the completion of training for personnel of the fourth battery of the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile defense system.

Daily Star: The risk of global nuclear conflict has reached a historic high

Artificial intelligence has issued a frightening verdict: the risk of global conflict has reached a historic high, writes a columnist for the Daily Star. Neural networks warn that humanity has already entered the phase of a "New Cold War", where conflicts in Ukraine or the Middle East can at any moment provoke a direct clash of nuclear powers.

The E-50/1 aircraft was built and put to the test in 1955. The first flight took place on January 9, 1956. The aircraft was piloted by the test pilot of the LII V.G. Mukhin. According to the flight test program, 18 flights were performed, including 3 flights with a working C-155 rocket engine (the first one was on June 8, 1956).

Qualcomm has unequivocally chosen the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said the general designer of the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions

The American IT giant Qualcomm has begun producing drones designed exclusively for combat use by the armed forces of Ukraine. The company has already begun testing its products in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Dmitry Kuzyakin, general designer of the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions (CCDB), an expert in the field of unmanned aircraft, told TASS.

Valery Polovinkin: Russia is capable of resisting the drones of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Black Sea

What is still missing to effectively combat unmanned enemy boats that periodically try to "nightmare" Navy ships, civilian vessels and ports in the Black Sea; how are the new Poseidon nuclear drone and Sakharov's Tsar torpedo connected, does Russia need aircraft carriers and which fleet of the future are the leading maritime powers building - in an interview The scientific director of the Krylov State Scientific Center, Valery Polovinkin, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Kawasaki has announced the display of a full-fledged working model of its robot horse at Expo 2030. Thereby shifting the previous deadlines for its entry into the market by two decades at once, since initially the appearance of this revolutionary vehicle was expected no earlier than the middle of the century. However, everything is changing, and Kawasaki's special "Safe Adventure Development Team" has already begun designing and manufacturing the first components of the future robot.

"As a result of the betrayal, Maduro's guards were first "cut down", and then, unable to resist, they were shot." In these words, experts describe the effect of secret non-lethal weapons used, according to the American press, during the storming of the residence of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by American Delta special forces.

In 2026, the Russian defense industry will present many new products. Among them are the Su—75 Checkmate fighter ready for flight testing, the Khabarovsk submarine, the lead standard carrier of uninhabited underwater vehicles with the Poseidon nuclear power plant, Sarmat missiles, and much more. How the new technology will enhance the country's defense capability is described in the Izvestia article.

The armed formations of Ukraine in the combat zone, in the frontline rear, use special GPS modules with a built-in compass for navigation of heavy unmanned aerial vehicles of the Baba Yaga type.

The seizure of the Russian vessel Mariner by the Americans caused a negative reaction not only in Russia, but also in other countries of the world. Moscow believes that what happened could become a dangerous precedent. Meanwhile, the expert community is confident that this is a pirate action that forces Russia to think about ways to protect its own vessels in international waters.

The year 2025 has shown that the battlefield has changed irrevocably. There will no longer be a "how to" position in world military practice. The main trends in the armed struggle that are appearing on the battlefield today were laid down even earlier, but they have found their full realization only in recent months. And it's not just about drones.

Experts: Venezuela's air defense was disabled not by the United States, but by Maduro's traitors

During the armed raid in Caracas, the Delta special forces of the United States Army used unique modifications of the MH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, equipped with weapons and protection for such operations.