Military review - geopolitics, expert opinions and reviews

2025-06-01 06:06

It is no secret that for many Soviet officers it was very prestigious to own a captured pistol. Most often, German short-barreled weapons could be at the disposal of the infantry commanders of the platoon-battalion level and the military personnel of the reconnaissance units. That is, those who

2025-06-01 06:06

A rare photo - two identical Russian warships of non-Soviet construction together. But that should stop being rare. Photo: defenceimagery.mod.uk Having decided on the principles that should underlie the sane shipbuilding policy of Russia, you need to subject them at least

2025-06-01 06:06

The High-Precision Complexes holding (part of the Rostec state corporation) was formed in 2009. Judging by the brand's popularity in Russia and abroad, the consolidation of the scientific and technical potential of specialized enterprises was successful. Not every integrated structure can boast

2025-06-01 06:06

About spilled blood - as a general to a general In February 2021, shortly before the next anniversary of the armed conflict on Damansky Island, a very lengthy and, to put it mildly, somewhat strange material was published in Nezavisimaya Gazeta. It was a big interview with a retired major general

2025-06-01 06:06

In the minds of the majority of Europeans, and even the citizens of Russia, the expanses of Southern Siberia, Altai, Mongolia, Northern and Central China have always been an area of settlement for the peoples of the Mongoloid race, but this is far from the case. Already in 3000 BC, Southern Siberia was inhabited by the clans of the Indo-European

Who doesn't know this famous emblem? Perhaps everyone knows. The "dead head" is even a symbol. Just a symbol of what? In general, I was surprised to find that the symbol, in general, is very old. And it was used, let's say, more than original, but under the Third Reich it was treated … Yes, as usual

In the first (it happened) part, we talked about a very original, as it turned out, aircraft: "Messerschmitt" Bf 109. The aircraft really turned out to be more than original. On the one hand, there are simply monstrous oddities in the design, borrowed from a sports plane, on the other, the possibility

There will be no complete comparison here, but historical parallels will be present. It is not my goal to show the similarities between Yakovlev's and Messerschmitt's planes, but as the article progresses, you will be surprised how similar the history of these planes turned out to be. Another question, of course, was what was the finale. But that's what we are about too

As strange as this statement may look, the controversial doctrine of Douai played the first role in the emergence of the branch of heavy fighters. It was Monsieur Douay that the inhabitants of Soviet, German, Japanese and English cities owe the massive bombing, since it was Douai who developed the theory

Historically speaking, about Italian combat vehicles, it was almost as if they were dead: either nothing or nothing at all. That is, they seemed to be, but they did not exist either. Something was flying there that was not good for anything initially. In fact, the truth was, as always, not where the celebration was

Yes, they were very peculiar war workers, but now we will consider exclusively wheeled aircraft. For float torpedo bombers and flying boats carrying torpedoes, you will have to make a separate test, since there were more than enough original machines invented

We're talking about aviation. We often talk about the development of aircraft, especially often - about the development of combat aircraft. I must say that not one of the branches and arms of the military has gone along such a path of development as aviation. Well, perhaps the rocket forces, but you must admit, how can we talk about

This material completes the topic of cannon and machine gun armament of aircraft of the Second World War. And here there will be a zest, which just needs to be paid attention to readers. We discussed machine guns and heavy machine guns. We talked about the cannons that made up the main power of the aviation of that time. And so

We write a lot about what is being developed here, and sometimes we forget about the weapons that are being developed "there". This is partly due to a lack of information. Partly a banal lack of interest in these developments. But it is necessary to watch, at least in order to correctly assess the level

It is absolutely fair to talk about aviation engines when talking about aviation. The very "fiery engines" on which, in fact, our aircraft flew during the Second World War. In general, in the 30-40s, our industry, no doubt, made a huge leap forward. From direct photocopying

Working on the cycle "Weapons of the Second World War", sometimes you shove through so much information that willy-nilly pulls to write more broadly about any moment. As, for example, happened with the story of Mark Birkier and his HS.404 cannon. In my articles on artillery, I somehow allowed myself the thought that in every

I hope that no one will argue that under the Hapsburgs Vienna became the second capital of Europe. The second in all respects (let's not shove Russia into this company, then you will understand why) is the European empire, whatever one may say. Yes, Britain was larger in area and population, but it was

Indeed, why did you get into the bomber? To fly to carry out a combat mission or to correct physiological needs? Yes, usually "it" was placed in the tail. Away from the crew. It is clear that the former, but sometimes without the latter. If we talk about front-line dive bombers and attack aircraft

Continuing the theme of aircraft weapons, it is quite predictable to move on to aircraft guns of the Second World War. I'll make a reservation right away that the article is generally devoted to 20-mm cannons, and one and only 23-mm cannon got here because it is nevertheless closer in characteristics to 20-mm colleagues than to those about

After the entry of Soviet troops into Bulgaria and the September armed uprising in 1944, the Bulgarian Air Force began to receive Soviet aviation equipment. In March 1945, the Bulgarian Air Force received 120 Yak-9 fighters of various modifications (Yak-9D, Yak-9DD, Yak-9M and Yak-9U)

On the last Sunday in October, veterans of the battleship Novorossiysk and the public of Sevastopol celebrated the mournful 60th anniversary of the sinking of the flagship of the USSR Black Sea Fleet. As a result of this tragedy, played out in the internal roadstead, over 800 people died in one night. The battleship turned over, and in his

A veteran of the special division of combat swimmers of the 10th flotilla of the Italian Navy reported that the battleship of the Black Sea Fleet of the USSR Navy "Novorossiysk", which died under mysterious circumstances on October 29, 1955, was blown up by Italian combat swimmers. Hugo de Esposito made this confession in an interview

The birthday - or, more precisely, the "conception" - of the BB-1 / Su-2 aircraft should be considered December 27, 1936. It was on this day that a resolution of the Labor and Defense Council was issued (hereinafter - a quote from the Khazanov-Gordyukov monograph): "on the construction high-speed long-range reconnaissance attack aircraft according to the scheme

The longer the military operation continues in Donbass, the more ordinary Ukrainians begin to wonder how many more lives must be absorbed by ATO (as the civil war is called in Kiev) in order to get enough and finally stop. Only those who

Having visited several events within the framework of the Army Games as a correspondent, I would like to ask the Ministry of Defense a few questions. To be absolutely precise, the questions are addressed to the press service of the Ministry of Defense, but since it is still part of the ministry, the questions are asked to the highest instance