Armament 2024, April

The rating of the best automatic easel grenade launchers of our time could not have been imagined without the German model of this weapon from the world-famous company Heckler & Koch. The HK GMG automatic grenade launcher, created by the specialists of this company in the mid-1990s, consists of

Today, automatic mounted grenade launchers occupy a prominent place on the battlefield. This weapon is designed to destroy enemy manpower and unarmored equipment located in open areas, outside shelters, in open trenches, behind the folds of the terrain. Usually the caliber of easel

Project Iceworm was the codename for an American project that included a network of mobile nuclear missile launch sites under the Greenland ice sheet. The project was launched in 1959 and finally closed in 1966. According to the plans of the American

In early September 2018, the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement that US Air Force planes bombed the village of Hajin in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor on September 8. It was reported that two F-15 fighter-bombers participated in the raid, which

On December 18, 2017, at a military parade in Doha, the capital of Qatar, the Qatari military for the first time demonstrated the Chinese operational-tactical missile systems BP-12A, which is called a competitor of the Russian Iskander-E OTRK. The parade in the capital of Qatar was organized in honor of the National Day

A story about the best automatic grenade launchers would be incomplete without mentioning Russian weapons. At one time, the Soviet automatic easel grenade launcher AGS-17 "Flame" was sold all over the planet in huge numbers. This model was in service with the armies of most post-Soviet countries

After the curtailment of the British medium-range ballistic missile program and the refusal to create its own launch vehicle, the work of the Woomera test site continued. Termination of the operation of the launch complex intended for servicing and launching the Blue Streak MRBM and the Black Arrow launch vehicle

Due to its remoteness, as well as domestic and foreign policy courses conducted by the leadership of Australia, news about this country rarely appears on the news feeds. At present, the government of the Green Continent has practically withdrawn from participation in large

The Japanese army first encountered Soviet-made tanks and armored vehicles in the late 1930s during hostilities in China and during military conflicts in the area of Lake Khasan and the Khalkhin Gol River. Soviet, Chinese and Mongolian troops used light tanks T-26, BT-5, BT-7 and

In the second half of the 1970s, the British government curtailed a number of large-scale defense programs. This was largely due to the realization that Great Britain had finally lost the weight and influence that it had before World War II. Being drawn into a full-scale arms race with the USSR was fraught with

On the territory of Australia, in addition to the British nuclear test sites, where atomic bomb tests and experiments with radioactive substances were carried out, there was a large missile test center in the central part of South Australia, which was later transformed into a cosmodrome. Its construction

Even before the elimination of the Emu Field test site, the British asked the Australian government for a new site for the construction of a new experimental field designed to test nuclear charges and their components. At the same time, based on the experience gained during the tests on the islands

Soon after the German attack on the Soviet Union, it turned out that the anti-tank guns at the disposal of the Wehrmacht were of limited effectiveness against light tanks and completely unsuitable for fighting medium T-34s and heavy KVs. In this regard, the German infantry, as in the years of the First World War

In the past, a number of Russian print and Internet publications have repeatedly published information about testing Soviet-made combat aircraft in the United States and conducting test air battles with American fighters. The topic of the presence in the American armed forces and on

In the second half of 1943, Germany on the Eastern Front was forced to go over to strategic defense, which, in turn, further exacerbated the problem of the shortage and insufficient effectiveness of infantry anti-tank weapons. During World War II, the Germans created and adopted

10 years after the end of World War II and the abolition of the occupation regime, the Federal Republic of Germany was allowed to have its own armed forces. The decision to create the Bundeswehr received legal status on June 7, 1955. At first, the ground forces in the FRG were relatively

Despite the fact that after the outbreak of World War II, the American leadership declared its neutrality, after Great Britain entered the war and in connection with the ever-increasing expansion of Japan, it became absolutely clear that the United States would not be able to sit on the sidelines. In the same time

At the beginning of the 21st century, the United States began an "unmanned boom" that continues to this day. If the first UAVs were intended mainly for reconnaissance and surveillance, at the moment drones successfully destroy point targets, including moving targets, at any time of the day. This became possible thanks to

In the 21st century, the development of the American "X-series" continued. If in the past these, as a rule, were purely experimental aircraft intended for various kinds of research and achievement of record results, then recently the index "X" in the designation began to receive prototypes

Vandenberg Air Base, also known as the "Western Missile Range", in addition to control and test launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and anti-missile interceptors, was used for the implementation of many American space programs, both defense and civil

30 km north-west of Edwards airbase, there is a unique facility even by American standards - the Mojave Air and Space Port. Here, original aircraft created by private companies are built and tested. Work in progress

In addition to rocket planes with two-component liquid-propellant jet engines, among the experimental aircraft of the X-series were aircraft with turbojet engines used as flying laboratories. This aircraft was the Douglas X-3 Stiletto. Monoplane with straight

In the late 1960s, submarine ballistic missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles placed in mines became the main means of delivery of American strategic nuclear potential. Due to the fact that the USSR air defense system was guaranteed to destroy on the way to protected objects

The history of Cannon Air Force Base (Cannon airbase) began in the late 1920s, when an airstrip and a passenger terminal were built 11 km west of the town of Clovis, in New Mexico. Airport, mainly serving postal services, in the late 30s

Soon after the creation of the Nevada nuclear test site, intensive tests of nuclear and thermonuclear charges began there. Before the ban on atmospheric nuclear tests in 1963, according to official American data, 100 "mushroom mushrooms" grew here. In Nevada, not only have new warheads been tested, but

About 3 hours after midnight on July 16, 1945, a thunderstorm struck the town of Alamogordo in New Mexico, knocking down the summer night stuffiness and clearing the air of dust. By morning the weather had improved, and in the pre-dawn twilight, among the thinning clouds, one could observe dimming stars. Suddenly the sky to

Holloman Air Force Base - Holloman airbase is located 16 km west of the city of Alamogordo. This is one of the most interesting objects owned by the US Air Force. The proximity of the White Sands landfill and the dry climate with many clear sunny days a year made Holloman a place

Perhaps there is no such area on the planet that can compare with the American state of Nevada in terms of the number and area of various kinds of military training grounds and test centers. In the past, during the time of the USSR, the "Soviet Nevada" was the Kazakh SSR, but now most of the polygons in Kazakhstan have been eliminated

Mock-up of a chemical cluster warhead of an operational-tactical missileIn the second half of the 20th century, chemical weapons became a cheap alternative to nuclear weapons for the third world countries, where all sorts of authoritarian regimes came to power. Chemical weapons on the battlefield are of value only in

Recently, both in foreign and domestic media, there has been too much inaccurate information and, at times, outright speculations on the topic of chemical weapons. This article is a continuation of the cycle dedicated to the history, state and prospects of weapons of mass destruction

The entire third final part of the review is devoted to the surface component of the PLA Navy, since it is the surface fleet in the PRC that is developing at the most rapid pace. More recently, the Chinese navy was assigned modest tasks to protect its coastline. However, currently

In terms of the number of deployed medium and long-range anti-aircraft missile systems, China is second only to Russia, but every year this gap is getting smaller. Most of China's anti-aircraft systems are deployed along the country's coastline. It is in this area that the main part of

In the PRC, simultaneously with the building up of its industrial and economic potential, a qualitative strengthening of the armed forces is being carried out. If in the past the Chinese army was equipped mainly with copies of Soviet models 30-40 years ago, now in the PRC there are more and more own developments. However, the Chinese

In addition to combat aircraft, the Indian Air Force has a significant fleet of military transport vehicles. For strategic transportation, 15 Il-76MD are intended, in addition, the Indian Air Force uses 6 Il-78MKI tanker aircraft. On the basis of the Il-76 jointly by India, Israel and Russia

The Indian leadership pays great attention to the development of the naval forces. The Indian Navy will be discussed in the third part of the review. Organizationally, the Indian Navy includes the navy, naval aviation, special forces units and divisions, and the marines. Indian Navy

The Eastern Rocket Range and the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, which were discussed in the first part of the review, are certainly the most famous, but by no means the only test centers and proving grounds located in the US state of Florida. In the western part of the state

On May 10, 1946, the first successful US launch of a V-2 ballistic missile took place at the White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico. In the future, numerous samples of rocketry were tested here, but due to the geographical location of the White Sands test site, test

Created in the USSR at the end of the 30s, the 14.5x114-mm cartridge was successfully used throughout the war in the anti-tank guns of the PTRD and PTRS. The BS-41 bullet with a metal-ceramic core fired from these guns had armor penetration along the normal: at 300 m - 35 mm, at 100 m - 40 mm. This made it possible to hit light tanks

It is generally accepted that the Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975. When North Vietnamese T-54s kicked out the gates of the presidential palace in Saigon, symbolizing the fall of South Vietnam and the defeat of the United States in this conflict

For most people, Japan during the Second World War is associated with the attack on Pearl Harbor, as well as the first (and so far only) use of nuclear weapons on Japanese settlements. An equally popular association with Japan is associated with pilots, whose main task was to fly to