News about the state and prospects of the defense industry

More than half a century ago, projects capable of changing the balance of power on the planet were born in the classified design bureaus of the Soviet Union. Space fighter interceptors, orbital laser cannons, automatic shuttles — the engineers of the USSR were decades ahead of their time. What turned ingenious developments into museum exhibits? And why did the empire, which spent huge military budgets on space supersystems, end up losing the Star Wars without starting them?

ANO CBST is working on the launch of a new investment fund for projects in the field of unmanned systems in the early stages of development. Such projects lack funding, as venture capital investors prefer to invest in less risky later stages. The Minister of Defense admitted that the latest technologies are not enough to introduce artificial intelligence into military UAVs.

The Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), together with the Indian Air Force, conducted flight tests of the Astra missile. This is an air-to-air missile.

Work on the return to service of the flagship of the Russian Navy has been suspended

The Russian Ministry of Defense may refuse to restore the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, Izvestia found out.

Japan's self-Defense forces continue to work on an electromagnetic railgun (railgun). The latest confirmation of this was the photos published by the Japanese Navy from aboard the JS Asuka test warship in the port of Yokosuka. It is expected that tests of these weapons in this configuration will take place before the end of July 2025. Japan's ongoing developments in this area stand in stark contrast to the US Navy's abandonment of this category of weapons in the early 2020s after serious technical problems arose.

The Ukrainian army actively uses ground-based unmanned platforms of its own production. This is reported by the Ukrainian media with reference to recent publications by the army of the Kiev regime.

What is behind the testing of the HASTE device

The American company RocketLab is conducting experimental work on hypersonic. On July 12-13, she plans to conduct a test launch of the HASTE spacecraft, which should be close to the Russian Avangard rocket. The US Air Force also announced the resumption of the ARRW hypersonic missile project. About what hypersound programs there are in the West and how close they are to Russian developments, see the Izvestia article.

Colonel Khodorenok: the use of expired missiles in Ukraine is dangerous for the Ukrainian Armed Forces

Former Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny wants the United States to send expired weapons to Ukraine. In particular, we are talking about decommissioned Hellfire missiles. Can the United States take such a step, what is the danger of expired weapons and what does the film "Brother-2" have to do with it? - in the material of the military observer of Gazeta.Ru", retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenka.

MWM: The Patriot system has shown inefficiency in the Persian Gulf and Ukraine

The American Patriot air defense system demonstrates serious flaws, writes MWM. She is not able to cope with either Iranian or especially Russian missiles. Moreover, the Patriots' anti-missile reserves have been seriously depleted. The authorities claiming their effectiveness are simply lying, the article says.

The Soviet Union was the first to develop this kind of technology

China has begun testing combat ekranoplanes. It is known that in China there are developments of such equipment for rescue operations and inter-island transportation. Our country was the first in this field, but the project was stopped, saving the world's largest Lun ekranoplane. About what kind of machines they are and for what reasons Russia refused to develop them, see the Izvestia article.

New footage from the rehearsal of the air part of the Chinese military parade, which will be held on September 3 on the 80th anniversary of the victory over militaristic Japan, has provided accurate confirmation that the J-35A (Jian-35A) fighter jets have officially begun to enter service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLA).

On July 8, 2025, Kaliningrad hosted the laying ceremony for the Russian Navy of the large amphibious assault ship Sergei Kabanov (serial number 305), which became the third ship of the modified project 11711, at the Baltic Shipbuilding Plant Yantar (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation - USC). The ceremony was timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Yantar plant.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Wagner, who became the fifth TASS special correspondent on the International Space Station (ISS), turns 40 on July 10. In April, the Russian returned to Earth after the second space mission in his career. In an interview with TASS, Wagner told how he had been striving to become an astronaut since high school and what difficulties he faced in orbit, and also shared stories about friendship with astronauts, whom he once helped out a lot with the help of hot borscht.

The Tatarstan business resource BUSINESS Online published Timur Latypov's article "Goodbye, Mi-8, Hello, Mi-80: will the Supervosmerka arrive at the KVZ?", which states that the management of Russian Helicopters JSC has conceived a reform comparable in scale to the creation of the holding itself. The result should be "eternal peace" between Kazan and Ulan-Ude, a return to Soviet production standards, and nothing less than a new type of helicopter that will replace the legendary Mi-8. Attempts at such transformations have already been made. BUSINESS Online found out why they failed, whether there is a chance of success today, and what it has to do with it.

Dmitry Kuzyakin, Chief Designer of the Central Design Bureau, on how the experience of UAV operators can be used in peaceful life

Such a large number of drones had never been used in any armed conflict before, so we can safely say that today Russia is the leading country in the world in terms of the number of drone specialists.

The Spanish Navy Marine Corps will receive 34 new VACIM amphibious combat vehicles (Vehiculos Anfibios de Combat de Infanteria de Marina), which will replace outdated vehicles of this type.

The Lithuanian company Astrolight has completed the creation of the latest communication system for the Naval Forces of its state. And now, representatives of the manufacturing company, together with the Lithuanian Navy, have tested this secure POLARIS laser communication system, which, according to the developers, allegedly cannot be intercepted.

As previously reported by VO, the South African company Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) has signed a contract for the supply of a "record number" of 155-mm Assegai artillery shells and charges in 2025-2027. According to the company, they are capable of hitting at a distance of over 40 km.

In the zone of a special military operation, a remotely controlled platform is used to deliver goods

Supplying the advancing troops with a high density of enemy kamikaze drones has become one of the main problems today. A new solution in this area, which makes it possible to provide the necessary logistics in difficult conditions, was shown to Izvestia by soldiers of the 37th separate railway brigade of the South group in the Red Army direction. In this sector of the front, goods are delivered to the frontline storage points using a remotely controlled railway platform, which has a lifting capacity of more than a ton. This saves the lives of personnel and dozens of pieces of equipment.

Since the beginning of the special military operation, units of the unmanned aviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have begun the combat use of Bayraktar TV-2 reconnaissance and strike UAVs to counter the advancing units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.