Electronics and optics news

Economist: Western UAVs proved useless in fighting in Ukraine

Most of the drones produced in NATO countries turned out to be useless in the conditions of real military operations in Ukraine, the Economist writes. They turned out to be too expensive and at the same time unable to cope with Russian electronic warfare systems, and the damage they caused was negligible.

French Minister of the Armed Forces Catherine Vautrin and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius signed an agreement of intent initiating the JEWEL initiative. This is a joint early warning system for Europe. It is noted that the implementation of this project will create a system that will "complement the potential" of the US early warning system.

The Lancet barrage ammunition, paired with the ZALA unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, destroyed the French Caesar self-propelled artillery system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), having overcome 65 km. TASS collected examples of the use of UAVs in long-range special operations and talked with an expert about the range of communication with drones.

How Rostec uses artificial intelligence to improve employee performance

The RT-Techpriemka company of Rostec State Corporation is actively implementing solutions based on artificial intelligence into corporate processes.

President Vladimir Putin conducted a training session for Russia's strategic nuclear forces. Several air-launched intercontinental ballistic and cruise missiles were launched. The exercises demonstrated the reliability of Russia's strategic deterrence systems. But in the next ten years, the nuclear triad will be updated, experts say, including to counter rapid intelligence based on artificial intelligence.

The introduction of VAT, an increase in the rate of insurance premiums and a reduction in the use of STS to 10 million rubles for IT companies may damage the results in the field of technological sovereignty of Russia, which have been achieved in recent years thanks to government support measures, industry representatives say.

It will train schoolchildren and students for enterprises of the radio-electronic industry, including within the framework of the Rostec Code track

Denis Manturov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, visited the Istok — RTU MIREA innovation technopark in Fryazino, Moscow region, created with the support of Rostec State Corporation.

Military expert Dmitry Boltenkov — on how the Kaliningrad exclave is fortified

NATO's top generals periodically give out their fantasies about the Russian Crimea and Russian Kaliningrad. Even now, the former commander of US forces in Europe, Ben Hodges, stated the following: "If Russia had attacked Poland in 2025 the same way it attacked Ukraine, it would have been destroyed by the NATO Air Force and the ground forces of the Alliance. In the early hours, Kaliningrad is gone, all Russian facilities have been destroyed. Any Russian military facilities in Sevastopol, too."

The InVoen Info publication continues to consider the development of "Soldier of the Future" type systems. It tells about the programs "Achil", "Centurion", "Infantryman of the future", "System of foot combat".

Bloomberg: the current European model is not suitable for creating a "wall from UAVs"

Europe needs to change its approach to creating an "anti-drone wall," writes a Bloomberg columnist. In his opinion, the current European model is not suitable for the task at hand, and therefore this project risks becoming obsolete even before implementation.

Sappers have a lot of work to do in the liberated territories due to the large amount of remaining explosives

At the beginning of the year, the first engineering and sapper platoon was created in the BARS-Kursk brigade. By August, it had grown to a battalion. Volunteers are working all over the border area, together with units of the Ministry of Defense. Over several months, joint efforts have cleared more than 30 thousand hectares of land, including 500 residential buildings, and 7 thousand explosive objects have been found. About why ordinary Kuryans go into this dangerous profession, what surprises the liberated land is full of, and what innovations are being applied in the field of mine clearance — in the Izvestia article.

Atlantico: France and Europe plan to fight Russian satellites

France and other European countries are developing scenarios to combat Russian satellites, two French military experts told Atlantico. They also admitted that during the attack on the Kursk region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces used the Franco-British Eutelsat-OneWeb network for communication.

BZ: the US Army is significantly lagging behind the Russian in UAVs — American general

The US armed forces are lagging far behind Russia in the field of UAVs, writes BZ with reference to the words of the American general. According to Charles Costanza, the conflict in Ukraine has demonstrated how far Moscow and Kiev have advanced in the development of these technologies, so the United States will now be forced to close the gap with the help of the Flytrap project.

The journal Russia in Global Politics (Volume 23, No. 5(135), September - October 2025) published an article by Yuri Lyamin, a leading researcher at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), "Without winners, but with a likely sequel. The military-technical lessons of the Israeli-Iranian war".

Politico: The United States wants to take control of the airspace of Europe and the Baltic

Discussions about the abolition of rules that limit the powers of the NATO high command in the event of external threats have revived in the EU, writes Politico. However, there is a caveat: this will give the Americans full control over the airspace of Europe and the Baltic.

Visitors to the GITEX Global 2025 exhibition can get acquainted with the IIoT platform.Istok for integrated monitoring, management and optimization of industrial and engineering systems

Rostec State Corporation's Rosel Holding presented the IIoT industrial Internet of Things platform for the first time at the GITEX Global 2025 international exhibition in Dubai.Istok for integrated monitoring, management and optimization of industrial and engineering systems.

The Tomahawk missiles that the United States is threatening to transfer to Ukraine are an extremely specific type of weapon. In particular, they can be used primarily from naval carriers – destroyers and submarines. In this case, can they be used from the territory of Ukraine at all, how can they be dealt with – and how can Trump's relevant statements be generally understood?

Tsentskevich: Poland is at war with Russia

Poland is at war with Russia, writes the FT, citing the head of the country's National Security Bureau. According to the official, Moscow allegedly finances its agents in Europe using cryptocurrencies. Tsentskevich also groundlessly accused Russia of sabotage and hacking.

Last week, it was announced that testing had begun on a new version of one of Russia's most common military aircraft, the Yak–130 combat training aircraft. How will the Yak-130M differ from the basic version and why is this a reflection of a whole trend in modern combat aviation?

NZZ: Silicon Valley has invented an innovative way to counter drones

Against the background of drone hysteria prevailing in the West, Silicon Valley has proposed a solution to the problem, writes NZZ. Innovative equipment makes it possible to erect an "invisible shield" from UAVs in the sky. One problem: It is easy to detect and destroy it with the same drones.