News about the state and prospects of the defense industry

MWM: the use of Zircon has become an important milestone in the development of hypersonic weapons

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed the use of Zircon during a special operation in Ukraine, writes MWM. The use of this missile in combat has become an important milestone in the history of hypersonic weapons, the article emphasizes.

On March 4, 2024, the airline OGUP Aviation Kolyma announced the beginning of a four-day flight of two Mi-38-4 helicopters it received from the Kazan Helicopter Plant (as part of Russian Helicopters JSC) to their permanent base in Magadan. Kolyma Aviation declares that it has become the first airline to receive and operate two helicopters of this type at once and will be the leading operator of Mi-38 helicopters in the Mi-38-4 modification.

According to the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, on March 5, 2024, a thematic conference call with the leadership of the Armed Forces was held at the National Defense Management Center of the Russian Federation under the leadership of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Sergei Shoigu.

On February 28, 2024, the Armament Agency of the Ministry of National Defense of Poland signed a framework agreement with the Polish company AMZ-Kutno SA for the supply of 286 advanced wheeled combat reconnaissance vehicles LOTR Kleszcz ("Tick") to the Polish Army in the period 2025-2035. The first executive contract under this agreement is due to be signed this year.

Experts assessed the intentions of Germany to return the practice of military conscription

In Germany, the possibility of the return of universal military service is being considered. The German press writes that this initiative belongs to the country's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.

Faced with operational access denial scenarios (anti-access/area denial, A2/AD) and advanced air defense systems, the Navies of leading Western states are working to improve their fire support facilities, focusing on higher-speed anti-ship weapons systems, long-range systems and unmanned platforms.

The EU countries are making urgent efforts to supply Ukraine with weapons, especially artillery shells. A coalition specially created for this purpose was led by France and the Czech Republic, and it was decided to spend huge sums. However, it suddenly turned out that Europe does not lack money at all, but a key resource needed for the production of weapons. What is it about?

The African Command of the US Armed Forces (USAFRICOM), whose area of responsibility covers the entire African continent with neighboring islands, with the exception of Egypt, will receive another batch of shot detection sensors, according to the military-political publication Defense News. The devices can be installed on observation towers, balloons, unmanned vehicles and other platforms.

On March 6, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Sergei Shoigu, checked the progress of the implementation of the state defense order by enterprises of the East Kazakhstan Region Almaz-Antey concern.

The modern Iranian Carrar tank largely repeats its Russian prototype, Hamshahri writes. Readers of the newspaper appreciated the characteristics of armored vehicles and compared which tank is better.

How a $500 aircraft destroyed heavy armored vehicles for 6 million

The first Abrams tank destroyed during a special military operation became a victim of a Russian FPV drone worth less than 50 thousand rubles. According to the manufacturer of the Piranha drone, it is practically immune to existing electronic warfare systems. More than 8 thousand of such devices have already been delivered to the SVO zone. Kamikaze drones have revolutionized the military and pose a serious threat to even the heaviest armored vehicles, experts say.

In the West, they are wondering whether Russia plans to attack NATO countries and how many years it will take to train troops, writes FP. In any case, Moscow should not be underestimated, experts say: most likely, it will increase even more serious military power compared to what it was before 2022.

The analysis of the special military operation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine, conducted by researchers from the Academy of Military Sciences of the People's Republic of China, shows that the widespread use of kamikaze drones is characteristic of the modern armed conflict of variable intensity, which is due to both their tactical and technical characteristics and the cost of production. 

The postponement of the start of deliveries of the MS-21 and SJ-100 aircraft for 2025-2026 should not affect the overall plans for the production of 600 civilian airliners by 2030, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation reported.

On February 28, the Indonesian company PT Pindad officially handed over to the Indonesian Ministry of Defense the first batch of 10 Harimau medium tanks (indon. "Tiger").

A locally produced MG251/L44 120 mm smoothbore cannon was installed on the MBT for testing. This was an element of the program to create a new modification of the Mk3, which was implemented in the late 1980s.

In February 2024, after Avdiivka, one of the trophies of the Russian army was the American Bradley M2A2 BMP, which was abandoned by Ukrainian troops with a full filling. A few days later, she was seen with the "vital equipment" removed.

As the Kommersant newspaper reported in Aigul Abdullina's article, "Russian planes are heavy on the rise. The delivery dates of all new civilian vehicles are shifted by a couple of years," the program worth hundreds of billions of rubles for the supply of domestic aircraft is shifted by two years. We are talking about all civilian projects - MS-21, SJ-100, Tu-214, Il-114 and Baikal.

A Myanmar MiG-29UB fighter jet crashed on Thursday in a rural area of the central Magway region due to a technical malfunction during training maneuvers. As reported by state television MRTV, the pilot ejected and was evacuated.

As indicated in the publication SavunmaSanayiST, the company, having developed national electro-optical systems used on air, land and marine platforms, has already sold about 200 CATS cameras to more than ten countries around the world.