News about the state and prospects of the defense industry

Washington is accelerating the construction of nuclear submarines, trying to overtake China

The United States retains the status of the richest country, capable of allocating record amounts for defense. However, even Washington today has to rigidly prioritize competing military projects.

On the night of May 17, the Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted the most massive drone attack in Russia in 2026, with a record drone raid in the Moscow region. There are victims among Russians, an Indian citizen was killed. At the same time, civilian facilities, not military ones, were affected. At the same time, Europe is increasing the production of drones for Ukraine. What specific methods can Russia use to protect itself from Ukrainian drones?

Last week, the ninth frigate of Project 22350 for the Russian Navy, Admiral of the Gromov Fleet, was laid down at the Northern Shipyard. This is a landmark event for a number of reasons. What capabilities does this ship have, how is it unique compared to the frigates of other leading maritime powers, and what is needed for the frigates of this series to become the most effective combat units of the Russian Navy?

The installation of such modular gas turbine power plants is carried out three times faster than stationary facilities

UEC Engineering (part of the United Engine Corporation of Rostec State Corporation) has proposed the use of prefabricated gas turbine power plants based on the NK-37 engine in energy-deficient regions of Russia.

In 2026, an official analysis of the combat use of long-range guided aircraft missiles in the course of its military operations appeared in a Russian specialized publication. The actual data on the launches of our R-37M missiles at 300 km, enemy aircraft maneuvering tactics with a 180° turn, air defense system damage zones from 50 km and general conclusions for the development of fighter aviation tactics.

In No. 1 for 2026, the official journal of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation "Military Thought" published an interesting article "Tactics of using long-range air-to-air guided missiles during the SVO", the authors of which are Candidates of military Sciences Colonel A.Y. Stepkin, Lieutenant Colonel A.A. Gvozdenko and Yu.G. Kravtsov.

A solemn ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the frigate project 22350 "Admiral of the Gromov Fleet" took place at the USC Severnaya Verf shipyard.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at the X Congress of the Russian Engineering Union, which is being held at the Rossiya Scientific and Technical Center. Below are the key fragments of Vladimir Putin's speech as presented by the Kremlin's press service.

The Project 22350 ship will be able to carry hypersonic missiles and escort naval convoys

The Russian navy continues to upgrade ships of the far sea zone. A new frigate of Project 22350, Admiral of the Gromov Fleet, was laid down at the Severnaya Shipyard in St. Petersburg.

The command of the Indonesian Navy has begun preparing the coastal infrastructure for the deployment of the aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi (C-551) transferred by Italy.

The Soviet Osa-AKM anti-aircraft missile system can be called, without exaggeration, the most widespread short-range air defense system in the entire world history of the development of air defense systems.

On April 22, 2026, Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA), the developer of Baikal, UTS-800, TVRS-44 aircraft and a new line of VK-800S engines, announced the completion of the transition to the domestic Maks computer—aided design system for the development of on—board aircraft cable networks.

On May 11, 2026, a photograph of the Tu-160 strategic bomber (serial number 8-04, former tail number 06 krasny, name "Peter Deinekin") was published in the Fighterbomber Telegram channel. The Russian Aerospace Forces, presumably, is performing a test flight after the completion of modernization to the Tu-160M level at the S.P. Gorbunov Kazan Aviation Plant (KAZ), a branch of PJSC Tupolev of PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (PJSC UAC).

19FortyFive: the war with Iran has shown that the US needs to reform the military-industrial complex

Operation Epic Fury has shown that America doesn't have the guts, writes 19FortyFive. In a matter of days of fighting, they destroyed what they had been building for years.

The Strategic Missile Forces successfully launched the latest Sarmat missile

Russian President Vladimir Putin has assessed the power of the stationary silo-based strategic missile system with the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, calling it the most powerful in the world.

Domestic machine vision systems for UAVs and robots have caught up with foreign leaders in their segment. Mass production of self‑developed 4K photosensitive CMOS sensors using 180 nm technology has begun in Russia, operating at temperatures up to minus 60 degrees Celsius and strong vibrations.

MWM: Russian advanced units received new T-72, T-80 and T-90 tanks

The Russian Armed Forces have received a new batch of T-90M, T-80BVM and T-72B3M main battle tanks, writes MWM. These vehicles are designed taking into account combat experience and direct recommendations from the personnel who are performing tasks in their area.

MWM: Russia is a leader in the integration of air defense and air traffic control systems

Russia retains global leadership in the integration of air defense systems with flight control systems, writes MWM. Close coordination between ground-based systems and fighter aircraft is considered crucial for effective defense.

Although the very fact of the presence of incomprehensible objects in the images that American astronauts took on the Moon has been known for a long time, for decades they have been attributed to chemical defects in the photosensitive emulsion of photographic film or glare of light in camera lenses. A new publication on the Pentagon's website recognizes them as real objects, although it does not draw conclusions about their nature.

China's competition with Europe will end badly for the latter

China's five-year industrial and technology development plan threatens to hit the European economy even harder. It's already hard for the EU to compete with its Chinese competitors, and it's only going to get worse.