The article discusses key trends in military assistance and transfers of weapons and military equipment (WME) by Western countries to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's Special Military Operation in February 2022. The study relies on official information about military assistance and arms transfers that has been disclosed by the governments of WME supplying countries. Focusing on this data, the article analyses country specifics, quantitative characteristics, composition, and types of transferred weapons systems, as well as key financial mechanisms of WME supply and military aid to Ukraine. Also, the ratio between military and other types of assistance is discussed. Some conclusions are made about the prospects of Western arms transfers to Ukraine.
The article is devoted to the study of tools to regulate the evolution of the labour market and educational sphere in Germany in connection with digitalization and the development of the "Industry 4.0". These issues have been studied insufficiently both at the country and cross-country levels, since most of the scientific literature deals mainly with economic and technological aspects of digital transformation, while the role of public policy and the formation of the "digital environment" (including human resources and education) are given much less attention. The paper highlights key features of Germany's digital strategy, such as the development of cyber-physical systems, IT security, and the reliance on public-private partnerships in the course of digitalization. It also analyzes a wide range of projects, initiatives and programs in the field of regulation of the labour market and education, on the basis of which the German Federal Government provides a solution to the most pressing problems and challenges for the country's digitalization. According to the findings of the White Paper "Labour 4.0" by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and of a number of experts in labour market of Germany, these challenges include: the lack of the qualified specialists in MINT professions (Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaften, Technik), specialists with digital skills and knowledge of information and communication technologies; shortcomings in the development of education and digital environment, in particular low levels of technical equipment of schools and other educational institutions; the negative impact of demographics and migration problems on the labour market and employment.
Abstract: The image of the global aviation industry is dramatically changing. This derives in the first instance from dynamic development of the military and civil aircraft market, where a significant growth in demand and an increase in airliner deliveries over the next 15 years by at least 80% was forecasted. Aircraft manufacturers' revenues in services business, including maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) are boosting, too. All this provide favorable conditions for the development of new production technologies in the aviation sector, including Additive Manufacturing (AM) and Augmented Reality (AR). Though the research and development in the field of AM an AR began in the 1980s, only in the last decade AM and AR technologies have reached the necessary level of maturity to be widely used in design, manufacturing and assembly processes in aeronautics, including civil and military aircraft. There are good prospects for their use in aircraft' maintenance, repair and overhaul as well. The transition from the initial period of formation of AM and AR technologies to the stage of technological growth and rapid development of relevant markets is evidenced by a number of factors. First of all, they include establishment of "dominant" technological designs based on AM and AR (certified additive production methods, new materials based on AM and machines for their production, special Augmented Reality headsets, etc.), as well as beginning of serial production of many AM-components and AR-platforms for the aviation industry. The participation of major aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus in AM and AR R&D projects, the formation of "new" supply chains, the development of public-private partnerships (e.g. NAMII in the U.S.), as well as the formation of consortia and alliances of companies that develop and produce systems and parts for aircraft based on additive technologies and augmented reality, are also indicators of the transition to a new stage of development of these technologies and markets.
Received 23.12.2020. The U.S.–China confrontation, generating a military technology race, has been gradually developed over a long period of time after the end of the Cold War. The mission of countering U.S. forces in a possible armed conflict in the Southeast Asian region has led China to adopt a "counter-intervention strategy", better known by the designation "anti-access/area denial" (A2/AD). The U.S. responded by development of sea-based missile defense systems, which has dangerously damaged the military balance. The study shows that both countries independently faced the need to accelerate one of the most destabilizing types of modern weapons – hypersonic weapons – during this race that required specific military-technical solutions. The course of this arms race has led the U.S. to development of the "AirSea Battle" concept and then other more radical operational concepts, such as "distributed lethality", requiring a complete step-by-step restructuring of the Navy. A study of the behavior of both powers shows that, at the present stage, the "arms race" is increasingly becoming a more complex process of "technological race", in which it is at times difficult to distinguish the components of the dynamics of the civilian and military sectors of the economy and of advanced researches and developments. The U.S. adoption of the ambitious "Third Offset Strategy" program occurred simultaneously with the deployment of Chinese research in similar directions, including the improvement of command, control and communications systems, development of lethal autonomous weapons systems and military applications of artificial intelligence. One of the main questions in this regard is to what extent the U.S. dispersed model of innovation management can compete with the Chinese centralized model of "military-civil fusion" marked by its high ability to concentrate resources and at the same time – linkages with global markets through the national champion companies. Acknowledgments. The article was prepared within the project "Post-crisis world order: challenges and technologies, competition and cooperation" supported by the grant from Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation program for research projects in priority areas of scientific and technological development (Agreement № 075-15-2020-783).
