As Uzbekistan’s autocrats have completed kicking out the US military and NATO allies, it has extended a warm reception to Russia’s military. Russian news agency Interfax reports that a Russian Air Force unit could be deployed to Karshi-Khanabad Air Base soon—taking the place of US military assets. Russian airplanes could be working with Uzbek aircraft to maintain security in Central Asia, a Moscow military source told Interfax. The source added, “The Americans have left good infrastructure behind.” Nice.
A top Pentagon tech official called on industry this week to help the military develop “lighter, more efficient” directed energy weapons designed to go on aircraft and conduct special operations missions or down drones—areas where the Air Force’s directed energy efforts have been quiet as of late.