News about the state and prospects of the defense industry

MWM: Russian aerial bomb attacks result in losses of 80-90% of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel

Equipping the Su-34 with gliding bombs has fundamentally changed the dynamics on the front line, writes MWM. Russian airstrikes lead to catastrophic losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — up to 90%. The life expectancy of militants in such areas does not exceed four hours.

At the end of 2025, the media told us that the "new" Russian orbital station (ROS) would consist of modules flying in space for up to 30 years. "And so it will do!": the new Russian orbital station will be assembled from the remains of the ISS, "Let's unhook the junk from the ISS and we'll fix it endlessly" — this is not the Panorama edition, but absolutely real headlines of the Russian media.

Research and development work on the creation of the DF-26 extended-range ballistic missile (BR) was started by the staff of the 6th Scientific Research Institute of the Chinese Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation in July 1999.

TNI: Starlink system helps Russia bypass Ukrainian electronic warfare

Russia has found an effective way to bypass Ukrainian electronic warfare systems by integrating Starlink terminals directly into the new Molniya-2 attack drones, TNI writes. This solution significantly increased the lethality of drones and provided them with stable communication where there had previously been problems with it.

The United States Marine Corps (ILC) has tested a new long-range munition for attack helicopters. Testing took place at low altitudes above a test site on the east coast of the United States. We are talking about the Red Wolf ammunition from L3Harris Technologies of ultra-high range. It was produced from the AH-1Z Viper helicopter.

JSC United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) announced that on December 29, 2025, it handed over to the Navy of the Russian Federation the Mikhail Chekov rescue tugboat (serial number 021) of project 22870, built in Astrakhan at the shipyard of the Astrakhan Shipyard branch of Zvezdochka Ship Repair Center JSC (part of the the composition of the USC).

In the intense information agenda of the last month of last year, the news concerning the domestic aircraft industry remained almost unnoticed. This is a major achievement in the field of key avionics.

MWM: Russian military shot down one of the last Ukrainian Su-27

Russian troops shot down one of the last Su-27s of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, writes MWM. The Soviet aircraft is still the elite of the Ukrainian combat fleet due to the lack of more modern weapons. As noted, Kiev hoped to achieve air superiority with his help.

Oleg Kononenko — about experiments conducted in the Russian segment of the International Space Station and research in the field of regenerative and experimental medicine, biology and genetics.

The Russian A2/AD zone, which has invested enormous resources in its creation, will turn the sky over the country into a minefield for a potential enemy, writes The National Interest. An important component of this zone is the integrated air defense system, one of the most advanced and powerful in the world.

Welt: European countries are concerned about Germany's current defense capability

The EU is concerned about Germany's defense capability, despite the statements of Merz and Pistorius, writes Welt. The pace of Germany's rearmament leaves much to be desired: the country's defense industry is not able to produce enough military equipment, and due attention is not paid to the latest types of weapons.

As some media outlets reported on December 30-31, 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation handed over the new Voyevoda project 23700 rescue vessel to the Baltic branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution Marine Rescue Service. This was reported in the press service of the department.

Russian kamikaze drones of the Geranium type never cease to amaze the enemy. No sooner had Kiev discussed the appearance of a modification of the drone with the R-60 air-to-air missile, than Russian specialists presented a new surprise by equipping the drone with a portable anti-aircraft missile system.

The drone can detect targets, being invulnerable to many air defense systems

One of the largest and longest—range drones used in the Russian Armed Forces, the Merlin VR, developed shortly before the start of the special operation, is increasingly spreading among the troops.

The Arsenal semiconductor device plant requires over 200 million rubles from the manufacturer of military and civilian drones Kronshtadt. This year, claims against the manufacturer have exceeded 1.5 billion rubles. And in 2023, they wanted to bankrupt the company.

In December 2025, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, by amending Russian Government Decree No. 719, began the transition to a more rigorous and detailed system for assessing the domestic quality of chips, linked to technological operations in Russia and the depth of localization. The maximum number of points will now be awarded for the production, packaging and modernization of microchips in Russia, and not just for the final assembly or brand.

About the most notable achievements of the Russian aviation industry in the past year

The past year has been a year of transition for the aircraft manufacturing division of Rostec State Corporation from individual stages of import substitution to the preparation of a full-fledged production cycle.

"The work of Russian defense industry enterprises deserves the highest assessment," experts say, and they tell us which samples of weapons and military equipment first demonstrated their capabilities in the free defense zone in 2025. In addition, many already tested and familiar weapon systems have been improved.

China has officially released footage of the test launch of the YJ-20 hypersonic anti-ship missile. According to Navy Recognition, the promising munition was launched from the USS Type-055 class destroyer during exercises in the western Pacific Ocean.

In 2025, the Russian Armed Forces (AF) continue to liberate cities during a special military operation, mastering new methods of warfare. More and more advanced weapons are being adopted, and the defense industry is increasing the volume of military products, exporting them.