defense technology

American war fighters have the best equipment in the world, but the advanced technology at the disposal of U.S. infantrymen comes at a steep price: a whole lot of weight. The average war fighter today can expect to carry somewhere between 60 and 120 pounds of gear on their back while in combat zones. All […]

Volvo’s French defense and security vehicle firm Arquus recently unveiled their candidate to become France’s new general-purpose troop-carrying vehicle: the Scarabée. While this platform has a lot in common with America’s long-serving workhorse Humvee, it’s got a few tricks up its sleeve that have never been seen on the battlefield before. The goal behind developing […]

General Dynamics has finally unveiled their entry into the U.S. Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon competition, officially confirming the longstanding rumors that their rifle would utilize a bullpup design. Unlike the Army’s existing M4 service rifle, which carries the magazine and chambers the round forward of the operator’s hand, a bullpup rifle handles those functions […]

The Air Force’s X-37B is a Boeing-built unmanned spacecraft that bears a striking resemblance to the old Space Shuttle (despite being significantly smaller). Although the program itself is shrouded in secrecy, its long-term orbital missions often make the headlines, thanks in no small part to the decidedly un-secret sonic booms the platform creates over Florida […]

Russia’s long troubled fifth-generation fighter, the Su-57, was recently brought back from the brink of death with the announcement that the nation intends to actually put the platform into mass production. Until recently, Russia’s token fleet of a dozen or so Su-57s was expected to be the extent of the nation’s fifth-generation fleet. Despite concerns […]

In January, NEWSREP covered leaked images of Russia’s “stealth” combat drone, the Su-70 Okhotnik-B, in an effort to assess the validity of Russia’s claims regarding the platform. At the time, it seemed clear that the aircraft likely had the power required to carry some serious firepower (thanks to what appears to be a fourth generation, […]

The Pentagon released its annual nuclear posture review last January, outlining the nuclear capabilities of foreign nations, particularly those that pose a threat to the safety and security of the United States. To the surprise of defense experts everywhere, a long-rumored Russian “doomsday” weapon, the Ocean Multipurpose System Status-6, found its way into the document, […]

It’s easy to look at a product like Lockheed Martin’s F-35 and say “Lockheed manufactures that aircraft,” which would be a true statement. However, much of the “manufacturing” the company does is actually “assembly” of a collection of parts manufactured by other, smaller companies. Despite the importance of these firms, not many people know much […]

Russia recently announced that they would be halting production on their latest and most technologically advanced main battle tank, the T-14 Armata, in favor of lower cost programs like updating their existing fleet of T-72 tanks. The problem with the T-14, like the nation’s stealthy fifth-generation fighter, the Su-57, isn’t that the platform doesn’t seem […]

Despite the F-35’s knack for grabbing headlines, an even more expensive aircraft has been steaming toward production to little fanfare: the B-21 Raider. Expected to serve as America’s go-to bomber platform for decades to come, the B-21 borrows from previous stealth platforms while incorporating new (and often not-yet-public) technologies intended to make it the premier […]

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a national address that included talk about a number of new missile platforms the Russian military is rapidly fielding. For defense analysts, none of the missiles he discussed were particularly new, as most were actually leftover Cold War era projects the Kremlin only recently put into production — […]

Following Vladimir Putin’s national address to the Russian people last month, in which he discussed a number of new missile technologies the Russian military is working to deploy, there has been a resurgence in discussion about America and Russia entering into a “new” Cold War. Depending on your perspective, there are a number of issues […]