Electronics and optics news

In the past 2022, Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace (KDA) has achieved tremendous success with its cruise missile NSM (Naval Strike Missile), which de facto became a replacement for the Harpoon missile on surface ships around the world.

Wired: in the USA, combat pilots will be replaced with artificial intelligence

A perfectly calculated trajectory, maneuvers with millimeter accuracy and an instant reaction to an enemy attack — a simulated dogfight between a robot and a human showed that US Air Force pilots risk being out of work soon, writes Wired.

Lockheed Martin Corporation announced that on March 10, 2023, the first F-16D Block 70 fighter aircraft (US military number 18-0011, tail number "1611") was officially handed over to the Bahrain Air Force at its facility in Greenville, South Carolina. which became the first F-16V (Viper, the designation of the F-16C and D variants is officially preserved) of the Block 70/72 series of new construction.

Belarusian enterprises have started supplying the first batches of electronics to the Russian Federation, which was included in the previously formed list of critical electronic component base. This is reported by the Belarusian news agency BelTA, referring to the statement of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.

On Wednesday, Transneft reported that it had found mines installed from the air at the Druzhba oil pipeline facility in the Bryansk region. In early March, an oil depot was attacked by drones in the same area. Incidents with UAVs were reported in other regions bordering Ukraine, as well as in Crimea and Sevastopol. Is there a way to effectively counteract such drones and calculate their operators?

Experience in the use of assault aircraft and confrontation with air defense in the conflict in Ukraine

For ten months, Russian military pilots have accumulated considerable experience in the combat use of weapons and military equipment in the zone of a special military operation (SVO). But if something else is sometimes told about helicopter pilots in the press, then we only know about the work of assault aviation that it takes off and lands, sometimes launching missiles.

In the USA, it was decided to postpone the testing of inter-satellite laser communication, the project of which was named Blackjack. This is evidenced by the fact that the official representative of the research organization DARPA subordinate to the Pentagon could not name the exact date of the launch of two Telesat birds satellites into Earth orbit.

As reported by TSAMTO, in January in Lithuania, as part of a campaign called "Radarom", a fundraiser was initiated for the purchase of new Israeli-made multifunctional tactical radars for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The command of the Russian Armed Forces has decided to significantly increase the number of counter-battery warfare complexes "Penicillin" in the area of the special operation. There will now be twice as many of them here as before.

Specialists of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, with the direct support of engineers from other organizations, have developed a new and very promising technology for the production of flexible matrices for mobile electronics, which will serve for about 20 years. Moreover, they have three times more brightness than similar solutions used in modern folding smartphones.

Wired: Russia is building the world's most powerful laser installation

Russia is building the world's most powerful laser installation for testing nuclear weapons, writes Wired. The authors of the article note that the Tsar laser will help scientists simulate explosions and maintain the combat readiness of nuclear forces.

After the first "cautious" presentation of the new B-21 Raider strategic bomber at the end of 2022, the command of the US Air Force published two new images that allow you to get a more complete picture of it. Recall that by 2050, the B-21 should completely replace the outdated strategic bombers B-52, B-1 and B-2.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who is tipped for president of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in 2027, said that South Korea should create nuclear weapons. To "contain North Korea," of course. So far, this is only the statement of a second-level politician who is not included in the circle of the country's top leaders. But it is significant and has a direct relation to the Russian special operation in Ukraine.

NATO countries retain a dominant position in the global arms market. And although Russia has secured the second place, located between the United States and France, Moscow's share in the market is steadily declining. What is the reason for such a reduction, how can Russia squeeze out competitors from NATO countries and why is it time for Moscow to think not only about arms exports, but also about imports?

Part of the equipment is already on the way

Sixteen radars were purchased by Lithuania for transfer to Ukraine with €14 million donated by the population and business representatives. This was announced to journalists on Tuesday by one of the organizers of the fundraising campaign, Jonas Ohmanas.

Rare earth metals are becoming increasingly important in the production of household, automotive and military equipment.

The US Army has announced that it has selected five companies to create prototypes as part of the second stage (INC 2) of the Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (FTUAS) competition. This was announced at the end of February 2023 by the responsible project manager for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The FTUAS program considers vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicles and is considered the most important unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program of the US Army.

The United States and its military allies are planning more than 110 major military exercises this year, which will involve the armed forces of more than 60 countries, and a number of other small events that will be held without wide publicity.

Rostec will more than one and a half times increase the enrollment of applicants under the program of targeted training of new generation engineers for the aircraft industry "Wings of Rostec". In 2023, the number of partner universities has grown to 15, while more than 500 students have the opportunity to get an in-depth engineering education and immerse themselves in the production environment thanks to employment at the largest enterprises of the Corporation.

The Russian military began using Murom-P long-range visual surveillance systems on the front line to monitor Ukrainian positions. This is reported by Ukrainian sources with reference to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.