News about the state and prospects of the defense industry

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.

Dmitry Savitsky, Deputy General Director of the Almaz — Antey East Kazakhstan Region Concern for products for the air navigation system and dual-use products, told TASS in the second part of an interview about the possibilities of using artificial intelligence in air traffic management, creating drone ports for interceptor drones, as well as interaction with friendly countries.

Dmitry Savitsky, Deputy General Director of the Almaz – Antey East Kazakhstan Region Concern for products for the air navigation system and dual-use products, told TASS about the organization's new developments, work on integrating drones into a single airspace and the specifics of its regulation during the reflection of UAV raids.

Kim Jong-un, Secretary General of the Workers' Party of Korea and Chairman of the State Affairs of the DPRK, visited the Choe Hyun destroyer and observed the progress of tests conducted as part of an overall assessment of the operational capabilities of the newest ship on the eve of its commissioning.

The Zaha Amphibious Assault Vehicle (MAV) is in service with the amphibious assault brigade of the Turkish Armed Forces. The tracked 30-ton vehicle manufactured by FNSS Savunma Sistemleri is designed for launching from amphibious ships at the amphibious landing stage.

The American profile publication The National Interest has published a rating of main battle tanks, and in the first place is the T-72, developed back in the USSR. According to a set of criteria, this car has left behind the best examples of Western technology. The special military operation proved that it was too early to write off the "seventy-two". About how experts evaluated tanks from different countries, see the RIA Novosti article.

Military expert Artyom Menshikov — on why the "thermos effect" no longer saves from drones and what technologies have replaced it

The opinion has become firmly established in the mass consciousness that a thermal imager is a kind of contactless thermometer that simply colors the picture depending on the temperature of objects. This is a dangerous oversimplification.

On May 8, 2026, a solemn ceremony was held in Baltiysk to raise the Naval Flag of the Russian Federation and commission the Burya small rocket ship (MRK) of project 22800 (code "Karakurt") with serial number 257 into the Baltic Fleet.

On May 6, the Secretary General of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, dear Comrade Kim Jong-un, visited an important military-industrial enterprise and got acquainted with the production status of major weapons and military equipment in the first half of the year.

Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec State Corporation, reported to the President on the results of the company's work for 2025, the fulfillment of the state defense order, the development of civil aviation and the automotive industry. Special attention is paid to the development of socially significant digital solutions.

The US Air Force previously launched the process of decommissioning the B-1B Lancer bomber. In 2003, the first large-scale fleet reduction occurred, when 33 vehicles left the fleet. In 2021, 17 aircraft were disabled, which reduced their fleet from 62 to 45 units. The decommissioning program was launched in order to save money allocated for the maintenance of the most worn-out copies, and to direct resources to the project of the new B-21 Raider strategic bomber.

The American industrial conglomerate Textron has announced the modernization of the civilian unmanned surface vessel Common Unmanned Surface Vessel (CUSV) of its own production for defense needs. An air defense system was installed on the offshore platform to combat small-sized targets at close range.