Beyond the Western Arsenal: Russian, Chinese, Indian and Iranian Weapons Since 1972

Entered Soviet service in 1972 as a gunship that could also carry up to eight soldiers, a dual role most Western attack helicopters of its generation lacked. It saw heavy use in Afghanistan in the 1980s and is still reported in service with fifty-two countries.

Entered Soviet service around 1978 as a mobile long-range surface-to-air system, with production starting in 1975. It became one of the most widely exported air defense systems, and the later S-400 and planned S-500 descend from the same design lineage.

Entered People's Liberation Army service in 2001 with a 125-millimeter smoothbore gun fed by an autoloader. It marks the point where Chinese armored design moved from Soviet-influenced models to a domestic main battle tank, with a Type 99A version following from 2011.

Fielded from 2006 as the mobile short-range ballistic missile meant to replace the older Tochka. Mounted on a wheeled launcher vehicle, the Iskander-M has a range of roughly five hundred kilometers, which gives ground forces a precision strike far behind the front line.

Built jointly by India and Russia and named for the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers. The Indian Army raised its first BrahMos regiment in June 2007, and the ramjet-powered supersonic missile can be launched from ships, submarines, aircraft and land vehicles.

Entered service in March 2017 as China's first fifth-generation stealth fighter, with internal weapons bays to keep its radar signature low. Its first combat unit formed in 2018, making China the second country to field an operational stealth aircraft.

Entered service in December 2017 as an air-launched ballistic missile carried under a modified MiG-31K, and was unveiled by Russia in 2018 among six new strategic weapons. It has been used in the war in Ukraine, where Russian and Ukrainian officials dispute how often it is intercepted.

A Chinese road-mobile medium-range ballistic missile built to carry the DF-ZF hypersonic glide vehicle, which maneuvers during descent to evade missile defenses. China showed it publicly at the October 2019 National Day parade in Beijing.

An Iranian one-way attack drone whose first public footage appeared in December 2021. It is cheap enough to launch in mass salvos meant to overwhelm air defenses, and Russia produces and uses the design as the Geran-2.