News about the state and prospects of the defense industry

Millions of Prince Vandal drones have been supplied to the Russian Armed Forces since their first use, and in two years the enemy has not found effective ways to counter them.

In China, they started creating joint swarms of drones

In China, advances in civilian technology for controlling large groups of drones are regularly demonstrated.

Andrey Patrakov: "If we extend the service life of such an aircraft, all safety risks will surface"

The vague prospects for the production of new domestic aircraft make it increasingly necessary to turn to the past. In the latest news, Russia is preparing to extend the service life of AN—28 aircraft developed back in the USSR from 40 to 50 years.

The South Korean Navy is testing the possibility of using the humanoid robot PIBOT to control a warship. A video capturing the actions of the product, named PIBOT, at the helm of the pennant in a simulation was shown online.

The British Ministry of Defense has announced the allocation of more than 5 billion pounds for the development of unmanned and autonomous systems over the next four years.

The TKB-1167 air target destruction system, presented for the first time at an exhibition in Egypt, is already on combat duty and shooting down real targets.

On September 7, 2026, the Swedish defense procurement agency Försvarets materielverk (FMV) announced that it had received and delivered to Sweden the first model of the upgraded Leopard 2S tank under the designation Stridsvagn 123A (Strv 123A).

For the first time, Russia has shown several samples of the latest weapons abroad at once, including those already tested in the special operation zone. The most interesting among them are new types of cruise missiles. What is their special feature and why is this a demonstration of the new role of combat helicopters?

Serial production of the new fully Russian MC-21-310 medium-haul passenger aircraft at the Irkutsk Aircraft Factory, as is known, began in 2026 with the assembly of the first batch of aircraft for the country's largest airline, Aeroflot.

Judging by the manufacturer's statement, we are talking about equipping the surface forces of the fleet with a new anti-aircraft weapon for operations in coastal waters saturated with threats. The company separately emphasized that it is modernizing and strengthening the protection of the complex against harsh marine conditions.

The American company L3Harris Technologies has reported on the completion of production of the first 35 sets of the Viper Shield electronic warfare system (AN/ALQ-254(V)1), designed to protect F-16 fighters from radar-guided missiles and other threats.

In October 2023, the country's military department instructed KNDS Deutschland to upgrade a total of 44 Stridsvagn 122 MBT (local designation Leopard 2), adopted in the 1990s, to the Stridsvagn 123A standard.

Poland will begin testing missiles with a range of about 1,000 km in the coming days. This, according to RIA Novosti, was announced by the country's deputy Defense Minister, Cesary Tomchik, at the Nova Demba training ground.

In combat aviation, the weight of a fighter pilot's helmet is critical. During high-overload maneuvers, and even more so during ejection, every extra gram on the head turns, figuratively speaking, into kilograms that put pressure on the cervical vertebrae and can lead to injury or loss of consciousness. At the same time, in the West, a weight of 2 kg is considered a physiological limit, beyond which the helmet becomes a direct threat to the health and life of the pilot.

Interagency exercises were held off the coast of Kamchatka amid the growing threat of naval and aerial drones

Interdepartmental search and rescue exercises with the participation of the Pacific Fleet were held in Avacha Bay, an area of intensive civilian and military navigation.

The French Ministry of Defense concluded from the Ukrainian conflict that high-tech means of countering FPV drones may be ineffective. For example, electronic jamming devices become useless to combat a drone that is controlled via a fiber-optic cable.

On September 6, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev visited the SALVO and KAYRA surface drone production complex, created jointly with Ankara, owned by the local MIRAS company and the Turkish DEARSAN shipyard. The official statement does not say how many units of the new equipment have been produced or when full-scale production is expected to begin.

The Navy of the Korean People's Army (KPA) has adopted the destroyer Kang Gon, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports.

In March 2026, it became known that Poland plans to re-equip the country's M28 patrol aircraft to combat Russian Geraniums and other UAVs. The M28 is a deeply upgraded version of the An–28, powered by Pratt & Whitney engines. In turn, the An-28, being developed by the Antonov Design Bureau, was produced mainly in Poland.

BZ: Even in case of peace soon, Ukraine risks becoming a failed state

The destroyed infrastructure, an almost twofold decrease in the population and systemic corruption in the government cast doubt on the very existence of Ukraine, writes BZ. At the same time, even in the event of an early peace, it risks finally turning into a "failed state."