News about the state and prospects of the defense industry

Who is helping Kiev modernize marine drones and how can Russia respond to this

Attacks by Ukrainian unmanned boats on Russian ships and facilities in Crimea have already become regular. In the absence of its own fleet, Kiev relies on this new type of weapons. Izvestia investigated how the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with the help of the West, modernize and improve unmanned boats, and what forces and means Russia has to deal with them.

NYT: U.S. precision weapons proved ineffective in the fighting in Ukraine

Russia has learned how to successfully jam American precision-guided weapons transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the NYT writes with reference to Ukrainian secret reports. Kiev has already had to abandon some Western weapons due to failures on the battlefield.

A combat vehicle is not afraid of any enemy when the hull is covered with diamond—shaped steel sheets - ideal protection from air attacks. The so-called "Tsar—brazier" is a technique for protecting the hull of a tank or an IFV with steel sheets, which makes the combat vehicle seem to have entered the garage, but at the same time it drives and shoots, Kirill Olkov, a correspondent of Izvestia, said on May 28.

How to mine the territory of Donbass

After many years of positional fighting, huge areas of the liberated territories remain mined or littered with unexploded ordnance. This not only poses a daily danger to civilians, but also threatens builders when working on new infrastructure facilities that are necessary to establish a peaceful life.

The once-former "mistress of the seas" Great Britain will definitely not return even close to this status in the foreseeable future, but London is taking some actions to restore a fairly decrepit and thinned military fleet.

German media reports that Germany plans to allocate additional military assistance to Ukraine this year in the amount of 3.8 billion euros. The corresponding request has already been made by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.

According to the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the annual event "Drone Day 2024", organized by the Ministry of National Defense and the Defense Resources Agency, took place on May 24 at the Kivishkyu airfield.

Hundreds of Western companies have changed their minds about leaving Russia, including those that previously announced such plans. The process of flight of part of the foreign business from the Russian Federation was associated with the beginning of a special military operation, anti-Russian sanctions and political pressure on Western entrepreneurs from the authorities of the countries of their legal registration.

Scientists from the United States have estimated that a fivefold increase in copper consumption during the transition to electric auto increases the need for this metal so seriously that a carbon-free transition is called into question even for some States. As an alternative, the authors of the scientific work proposed hybrids. From their point of view, no less problems are caused by the introduction of renewable energy sources, which also require a lot of copper. However, there are serious bottlenecks in the study.

The basic vehicle for the ZMA-15 Zırhlı BMP is the ACV-15 AAPC armored personnel carrier, created on the basis of the American M113 armored personnel carrier and produced since 1992 by FNSS Defense Systems. In total, about 2.7 thousand units were produced. The main armament is represented by a 12.7mm M2 machine gun placed in a swivel turret or an open turret.

The US Congress proposed the creation of an unmanned aviation corps

The House of Representatives of the US Congress proposed to create a new branch of the armed forces in the army — the unmanned aviation corps. The initiative was included in the draft law on defense policy for the 2025 fiscal year. The goal is to professionalize this area, to put it on a par with other disciplines of military service. About the Pentagon's plans — in the RIA Novosti material.

Kurganmashzavod supplied the Russian troops with a batch of BMD-4M and BMP-3, improved by increasing survivability, in order to better counter the threat posed by drones in the Ukrainian conflict. Western observers tried to evaluate the new modifications of armored vehicles.

Venezuelan troops have relied on Western combat systems for decades. They still make up a significant part of the country's arsenal, despite active purchases of military products from Russia and China.

The Economist: the shortage of explosives in the EU will slow down the production of weapons for the Armed Forces

Due to the shortage of explosives, Europe cannot increase the production of shells and missiles for Ukraine, writes The Economist. It will take years to start factories that have been idle since the Cold War. At the same time, imported explosives do not suit weapon manufacturers.

In the salty Atlantic, at depth, the sensors used to detect enemy submarines do not work well. The temperature difference creates layers in the sea column that hide submarines from active sonars. The situation is different in the Baltic Sea, which is shallow and has a low salt content, which makes it a suitable site for small submarines.

Literally during 2020, Turkey and its allies in Syria, Libya and the Caucasus demonstrated the increased capabilities of Turkish-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Foreign media especially emphasized their ability to hit Russian-made air defense systems. The success of Turkish drones has not only forced us to talk about a new stage in the development of military affairs, but also gave a significant export impetus to the Turkish defense industry.

In the current situation, military personnel should not be distracted from combat training, experts believe

The international competitions of military units "Army Games" will not take place this year. The troops did not even hold qualifying competitions. No events were held last year either. At that time, the military department promised that the competitions would be held every two years starting from 2024. Experts note that military specialists are now needed in the zone of a special military operation and the summer months are better used for combat training.

On May 21, the Mogami-class frigate (FFM-5) Yahagi joined the combat team of the 14th Division of the escort Forces of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces, which is stationed at the Maizuru Naval Base in Kyoto Prefecture.

The Royal Canadian Navy has received the fourth patrol ship of the Arctic zone HMCS William Hall (433) of the Harry DeWolf class. The solemn ceremony of commissioning the icebreaker took place at the Irving Shipbuilding shipyard in Halifax, where this ship was built.

The West is intensifying its military rhetoric, explaining to its subjects and citizens why they will have to fork out for a sharp increase in military spending. The reason has not changed for several years: they say, Russia dreams of seizing Ukraine, the Baltic States, Poland, Eastern Europe, Western Europe — and generally becoming a super empire. In fact, it seems that Western politicians are simply trying to repeat the "Russian miracle" — the economic growth of our country against the background of the rapid development of the military economy.