Structure and personnel news

The State Duma approved the transition to a new year-round conscription system

In the third reading, the State Duma unanimously adopted a law on the transition to year-round conscription. Now it takes place only twice a year: from April 1 to July 15 and from October 1 to December 31.

Large enterprises of the shipbuilding industry, including the Kingisepp Shipbuilding Plant military Industrial Holding (part of the USC), have sent a collective letter to the Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov. According to Fontanka, they are asking to be saved from financial collapse, which threatens them after the department's demands to return previously allocated subsidies with huge fines; the total amount exceeds 1.1 billion rubles.

General Zorn: women should be drafted into the army to eliminate the shortage of personnel

Germany will not be able to achieve the required number of soldiers without military service for both men and women, said former Inspector General of the Bundeswehr Eberhard Zorn in an interview with Welt. In his opinion, Germans now do not realize how important it is to defend their country.

On October 22, in the lecture hall of the TsAGI Demonstration Center (Zhukovsky, within the framework of the discussion club, a meeting was held with a man of amazing destiny – pilot-cosmonaut of the Russian Federation, Hero of Russia Alexander Lazutkin. It was he who happened to become a participant in one of the most extreme space expeditions in the history of space exploration.

Agreements with BSTU "VOENMEH" named after D.F. Ustinov, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, MIPT and School No. 58 were concluded at a meeting of the Bureau of the Union of Machine Builders of Russia

Rostec, together with the D.F. Ustinov Baltic State Technical University VOENMEH, will develop promising technologies and train qualified specialists for the military-industrial complex. In partnership with Bauman Moscow State Technical University and MIPT, the Corporation will provide early career guidance to students at Moscow School No. 58.

Vedomosti newspaper in the article by Svetlana Afonina, "USC may double investments in the modernization of the Severnaya Verf. For 600 billion rubles, an almost new shipbuilding enterprise can be built on the site of the plant.

The Ministry of Defense begins optimizing its administrative and business processes

The Russian Defense Ministry is starting to optimize administrative and business processes, which will lead to the gradual abandonment of paper orders, a source close to the Russian military told RIA Novosti.

Among other innovations is the approved deadline of 30 days for reporting to the military enlistment office

The State Duma adopted in the second reading a bill providing for year—round conscription from January 1 to December 31. The document also clarifies the order of appearance by electronic summons. About the innovations in the conscription system, the categories of validity and responsibility for evasion — in the material of Izvestia.

Telegraph: Merz's plan to restore conscription into the Bundeswehr has failed

Chancellor Merz promised to turn the Bundeswehr into the strongest non-nuclear army on the European continent, but he does not have the opportunity to put this idea into practice, writes The Telegraph. His partners in the government coalition from the SPD are categorically against the restoration of conscription.

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.

FA: Trump's policy towards the army will lead to unpredictable consequences

Trump and the head of the Pentagon, Hegseth, are engaged in unprecedented interference in the affairs of the US armed forces, writes Max Booth on the pages of Foreign Affairs. Booth fears that such actions will negatively affect not only the army, but also the future of the United States.

General Kuznetsov declared his innocence in a letter to Putin

Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov, accused of bribery, wrote a letter to President Vladimir Putin from jail. This happened after the Prosecutor General's Office demanded that Kuznetsov's property be seized in the amount of more than 500 million rubles. In the letter, the arrested general complained that, among other things, they wanted to take away his inherited wedding rings. For more information, see the "Gazeta.Ru".

On October 4, 2025, the annual exhibition of products and developments of the North Korean defense industry "Development of National Defense-2025" opened in the capital of the DPRK, Pyongyang. This time, the Museum of the Three Revolutions became its venue.

It seems that a fundamentally new stage is coming in the political confrontation within the United States – the split between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives. US President Donald Trump is dragging the Armed Forces into this conflict – and wants the army to fight his internal enemies. What are we talking about and what will be the consequences?

The Army celebrates the 475th anniversary of its formation

The Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Hero of Russia, Colonel-General Andrei Mordvichev, in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, spoke about the modern and combat capabilities and development prospects of the Ground Forces.

The command of the Ground Forces of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JDF) has outlined a large-scale restructuring of subordinate units. It is expected that two new large formations will be created in the 2026 financial year.

The autumn conscription into the armed forces starts today. Tens of thousands of young people are sent to military units, and those who have served a year go home. Recruitment into the army remained at the same level. However, there are several important innovations. About what has changed — in the material of RIA Novosti.

Russia's first faculty of unmanned aircraft has started its work

Several UAVs hover in the sky above the forest belt, artillery strikes with lightning speed, small assault groups are attacking — this is how exercises are held at the Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School (MosVOKU).

Just over a month ago, the Atlantic Spaceport Consortium (ASC) received a five-year license, for the first time in Portugal, for a launch pad project on Santa Maria Island. It is the southern of the group of islands of the Azores Archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located about 1400 km west of Portugal.

The Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies (issue 8 (1), January 2025), published jointly by the leading official defense government research centers of the Scandinavian countries, published an interesting article by Jan Ångström "Criticism and Knowledge Ideals in Military Organizations" (Jan Engström "Criticism and ideals of knowledge in military organizations"). Here is a translation of the first part of this article.