News about the state and prospects of the defense industry

The upgraded ZU-23 anti-aircraft system can become an effective means of combating attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russian energy facilities, CAMTO Director Igor Korotchenko told RIA Novosti.

Telegraph: Leopard 2 tanks showed unsatisfactory results in Ukraine

German Leopard 2 tanks are defenseless against drones, and it is impossible to repair them near the front line due to their excessively complex design, The Telegraph writes. As a result, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are forced to use these armored vehicles only as artillery.

Igor Korotchenko — about what the loss of a fighter means for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and how many of them are left

On April 13, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Russian air defense systems had shot down an F-16 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force. This was the first official confirmation from the Russian side of the destruction of an American fighter during its military operation.

Today, Russia has the best air defense system in the world, but it needs to be constantly improved. Drones have become a real force capable of globally changing the nature of military operations..

According to the newspaper, the vehicles are very vulnerable to UAV strikes, and their repair on the battlefield is quite problematic

German-made Leopard-2 tanks proved to be ineffective in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. The Telegraph newspaper writes about this with reference to the classified protocol of the report of the deputy military attache of the German Embassy in Kiev.

On ensuring high—quality and uninterrupted communication between ground services and aircraft, and what role Rostec State Corporation companies play in this

Since 2022, global global providers of ACARS, an address-reporting system for aviation communications, have stopped providing their services in Russia. Meanwhile, this air—to-ground system plays a key role in ensuring flight safety. It allows pilots and air traffic controllers to exchange operational information, monitor flight parameters and prevent emergency situations.

Small machinery has advantages over both motorcycles and larger cars

Snipers began using small buggy vehicles for combat work. Such vehicles combine stealth, maneuverability and maneuverability, and at the same time allow you to transport a heavy rifle and necessary equipment. Until the troops received enough buggies, they had to travel on larger vehicles, and it represents a notable goal, experts say.

The American press, citing sources in the military department, writes that the development of the HALO hypersonic missile for the US Navy has been canceled. The information is confirmed by Rear Admiral Stephen Tedford, head of the Executive Office of the Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aircraft Program.

Flights to Mars are again being seriously discussed and planned in the space industry. You need to prepare for them thoroughly, because the round trip can take about 500 days, and no one will cancel the radiation from cosmic rays and the solar wind by that time. In addition, solar flares and coronal ejections are unpredictably likely to occur, from which future space travelers will need to hide. A group of physicists has developed a system for predicting upcoming proton events in order to warn Marsonauts in time.

Overcoming difficulties, the American Naval Command is striving to modernize its fleet of submarines. The U.S. Navy requires shipbuilders to supply at least three submarines per year. We are talking about one Columbia-class strategic submarine and two Virginia-class multipurpose submarines.

James Stavridis: lasers should become the basis of the "Iron Dome" over the USA

Trump's idea of creating a reliable national missile defense system is not easy to implement, former NATO commander retired Admiral Stavridis writes in an article for Bloomberg. There are many problems, both technical and financial, but America simply has to solve this problem, the author believes.

On April 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting on the issue "On the strategy for the development of the Navy for the period up to 2050."

Putin stated the need to form a new image of the Russian fleet against the background of the changing situation in the world

The situation on the world stage — its threats and challenges, as well as the digital revolution — require the Russian Navy to form a new image.: 8.4 trillion rubles have already been allocated for the construction of modern ships over the next 10 years. Vladimir Putin said this on April 11 at a meeting on the development of the Navy. Now, for example, the qualitative development of the fleet will be helped by the release of domestic ship—based drones and the mass production of unmanned boats - they will have to be included in the unified intelligence complex of Russia. At the same time, a large-scale naval modernization program is already underway in the Russian Federation: 49 ships of various classes have been built in the last five years alone, the president recalled.

He noted that participation in the firing tests of the RD-107 rocket engine was for him "a return to flying not in a dream, but in reality"

Oleg Atkov, a medical scientist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, cosmonaut pilot and Hero of the Soviet Union, took part in the firing tests of the RD-107 rocket engine, which took place on the eve of Cosmonautics Day at the site of the ODK-Kuznetsov test base in Samara, a TASS correspondent reports.

On April 11, 2025, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin held a meeting in St. Petersburg on the issue "On the strategy for the development of the Navy for the period up to 2050." The most significant public statement at this meeting was the information that "in the coming decade, 8 trillion 400 billion rubles are provided for the construction of new ships and vessels of the Navy.",

Spotter photos of two Su-57 fighter jets of the Russian Aerospace Forces with tail numbers "25 red" (registration number RF-81796) and "26 red" (registration number RF-81797) were published in early April 2025 (posted online on April 10) at Novosibirsk Tolmachevo airport.

19FortyFive: four of the five fastest fighters in the world are Russian

Russia has an overwhelming advantage in high-speed fighter jets, writes 19FortyFive. The top five are the MiG-25 and MiG-31. The Americans can only keep up with them.

Korotchenko: updated ZU-23 will be effective against UAV attacks on energy

The upgraded ZU-23 anti-aircraft system can become an effective means of combating attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russian energy facilities, Igor Korotchenko, a well-known military expert and editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, told RIA Novosti.

The Su-34 fighter-bomber began to be developed in the mid-1980s, but it still remains one of the most successful machines of its class worldwide. The aircraft, which is popularly nicknamed the "duckling" and "drake" for the shape of the nose, has been tested by several combat conflicts and has unique characteristics — even in terms of crew comfort. By the 35th anniversary of the first flight of the prototype of this fighter-bomber, TASS has collected the main facts that make it possible to consider the Su-34 a special machine.

On April 12, Cosmonautics Day, it is worth remembering not only the great past of the Soviet space program, but also what prospects Russia faces in space today. The nearest of them is the construction of its own orbital station instead of the soon–to-be-extinct ISS. What will it be like and what will it give our country?