Russia is reportedly preparing to deploy a variant of North Korea’s Hwasal-1 Ra-3 strategic cruise missile in combat operations against Ukraine, according to information shared by the OSINTWarfare account on X on December 25, 2025. The claims, attributed to multiple Russian sources, suggest the missile variant could be equipped with a one-ton high-explosive warhead and have an estimated operational range of 130 to 250 kilometers, marking a potentially significant shift in Moscow’s strike capabilities.

According to information released by the Security Service of Ukraine and supported by videos circulating on social media, Ukrainian special operations units executed a carefully sequenced strike against Russian naval assets in the Black Sea region in December 2025. The operation reportedly began with the destruction of a Russian Ilyushin Il-38N maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft, followed by a separate strike against a submarine at or near the naval base in Novorossiysk, delivering a rare blow to Russia’s airborne maritime surveillance network far from the front lines.

The U.S. Navy has announced plans to design a Trump-class guided missile battleship, beginning with USS Defiant (BBG-1), as part of a broader Golden Fleet expansion. The proposed ship emphasizes hypersonic strike capabilities, deep missile capacity, and fleet command survivability in high-end conflicts. Through U.S. President Donald Trump's statement on December 22, 2025, the U.S. Navy announced its intent to construct a new Trump-class guided missile battleship, starting with the future USS Defiant (BBG-1), as the centerpiece of a wider “Golden Fleet” buildup. The move revives the battleship label, but the hardware being proposed is closer to a missile-heavy large surface combatant built to fight inside a saturated anti-ship missile environment, while also acting as a fleet command node. The War Department’s Pentagon News account describes the ships as 30,000-to 40,000-ton combatants now in the design phase, with construction of the lead ship targeted for the early 2030s.

Ukrainian intelligence says covert operatives and long range drones disabled four Russian fighter aircraft during separate attacks at a base near Lipetsk and at Belbek airfield in occupied Crimea. If confirmed, the operations highlight a widening Ukrainian effort to reduce Russia’s airpower by striking aircraft on the ground, where losses are hardest to replace. According to information published by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine, on December 20 and 22, 2025, Ukrainian special services claim they disabled four Russian fighter aircraft in two separate operations, one a clandestine sabotage raid at an air base near Lipetsk and the other a long-range drone strike on Belbek airfield in occupied Crimea. If confirmed, the twin actions underscore a widening Ukrainian campaign to hit Russian tactical aviation on the ground, where even a single successful breach can erase aircraft, crews, and sortie capacity faster than Russia can replace them.

Ukraine is rapidly expanding domestic drone and missile production, with manufacturers like Fire Point now central to daily strike operations against Russian logistics and infrastructure. The shift highlights how industrial scale, not single breakthrough weapons, is shaping Ukraine’s ability to sustain pressure deep behind Russian lines. According to reporting by the BBC on December 18, 2025, Ukrainian journalists were taken under blindfold to a heavily secured production site linked to Fire Point, one of the country’s fastest growing drone and missile manufacturers. The rare access underscored how defense factories have become frontline assets themselves, guarded as tightly as military bases, as Ukraine doubles down on domestically built long-range strike systems to offset Russia’s numerical advantages and maintain pressure on rear area logistics.

Russian military units operating in Ukraine have begun using the Chinese-developed Silent Hunter laser air defense system, according to information published on multiple social media platforms and reviewed by Army Recognition’s open-source monitoring team. While neither Moscow nor Beijing has officially confirmed the deployment, the reported combat use would represent the first battlefield employment of China’s export-oriented directed-energy weapon, as both sides search for cost-effective ways to counter the relentless expansion of drone warfare.

Japan has crossed a major threshold in maritime defense with the first-ever installation of a high-energy laser weapon aboard a naval warship. Defense officials confirmed that a 100-kilowatt-class laser system has been mounted on the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force testbed destroyer JS Asuka, marking the country’s most advanced step yet into shipborne directed-energy technology. The move aligns Japan with the United States and the United Kingdom, both of which are already deploying and testing similar naval laser systems in response to rapidly evolving threats across the maritime domain.

Ukraine’s Security Service says it disabled a Russian Project 636.3 Improved Kilo-class submarine at Novorossiysk using an underwater drone called Sub Sea Baby. If confirmed, the strike would mark a major shift in naval warfare by showing that even protected submarine bases are vulnerable to low-cost unmanned attacks. Ukraine’s Security Service, known as the SBU, claimed on December 15, 2025, that it successfully struck a Russian Improved Kilo-class submarine inside the port of Novorossiysk using an underwater unmanned system, a platform the agency refers to as Sub Sea Baby. According to the SBU, the operation was conducted jointly with the Naval Forces of Ukraine through military counterintelligence channels and caused critical damage that rendered the submarine non-operational, a claim that cannot yet be independently verified through imagery or official Russian statements.

Emerging from decades of strategic bomber development and technological rivalry, the United States’ Northrop Grumman B‑21 Raider and China’s Xi’an H‑20 now stand as the two most consequential next-generation stealth bomber programs shaping the future of global airpower. Both aircraft represent the culmination of their respective nations’ ambitions to dominate long-range precision strike, yet despite sharing a broadly similar external layout, the two designs reflect very different levels of technological maturity, combat integration, and strategic intent. Beneath the sleek flying-wing silhouettes lies a deeper divergence in philosophy, capability, and battlefield relevance.

U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters trained alongside Kuwaiti and partner forces during Exercise Sky Shield at the Udari Range Complex in Kuwait on Dec. 9, 2025, according to information released by the U.S Department of War. The drill emphasized integrated air defense and counter-unmanned aerial system operations, reflecting growing concern across U.S. Central Command about the increasing use of small, low-cost drones in regional conflicts.

The U.S. Army is preparing to replace traditional Infantry Brigade Combat Teams with a lighter, more technically dense Mobile Brigade Combat Team built around mobility vehicles, organic drones and long-range precision strike, according to a December 9 Congressional Research Service note drawing on official Army force design data. The future MBCT trims brigade strength to roughly 1,900 soldiers, less than half the manpower of a current IBCT, while adding layers of small UAS, loitering munitions, electronic warfare and mobile command nodes designed to maneuver and survive under constant observation and long-range fire.

On December 5, 2025, Roshel CEO Roman Shimonov announced that more than 2,000 Senator armored vehicles have now been delivered to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. He released new footage from Ukraine showing a Senator being struck by a Russian drone and continuing to move before the crew dismounted safely, illustrating how the Senator could really save the lives of its occupants. Used by numerous Ukrainian units, including National Guards and Special Forces, the Senator became one of the most widely fielded armored vehicles used by Ukraine in areas frequently exposed to Russian artillery and FPV drones.