Drones, Artificial Intelligence, digitization: Russia is also at the forefront of new defense technologies

In recent years, the American armed forces have undertaken a profound transformation in order to integrate new technologies such as the massive use of drones, the digitization of the battlefield and cooperative engagement, and attempting to regain the military ascendancy over its potential adversaries, and in particular over China, which now occupies most of the attention of Pentagon strategists. The announced objective is to compensate for the numerical advantage linked to the PLA's omnipotence and the probable proximity to Chinese soil in a hypothetical engagement against Chinese forces in the Western Pacific, and in particular around Taiwan. A report published by the American Naval Analysis Center recalls that while China is indeed a major adversary that should be taken seriously, thehe Russia also remains a very serious competitor, especially since, like the United States, it is deploying significant efforts in these disruptive technological fields., likely to neutralize the advantage hoped for by American and Western forces.

The 286-page report details the many Russian efforts in these new technologies and doctrines. Thus, in the field of drones, and after a late start, the country has been able to catch up to the point of becoming probably the first to implement a heavy combat drone, the S70 Okhotnik B, from the middle of the decade. It has also considerably increased the integration of drones in its decision-making and command chain, after numerous experiments carried out in Syria in particular, both in the conventional fields and in more innovative fields, such as robotics. Clearly, the Syrian conflict has been, and remains, for Russian forces, a great laboratory for experimenting with weapon systems but also its doctrines of engagement.

The Russian armies have also made immense progress in the field of cooperative engagement in recent years, again relying in part on the advances made in drones, but also in space, and several flagship programs, in the aerial domain (Su-57, Mi-28NM, Ka-52M..) as in the naval field (Gorshkov frigates, Iassen submarines, Bastion coastal defense batteries ..), now include tools allowing this form of cooperation. These same tools are found in the field of land combat with the new version of the Ratnik combat outfit and new features incorporated into the modernized T-90M, T80BVM and T-72B3M tanks, as well as the Tornado S / G, MSta and Koalitsya-sv artillery systems, and the imminent arrival of the new generation of armored vehicles of the Armata family.

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