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The Ukraine conflict is being fought with a range of weapons, from high-technology armaments to home-made explosive devices.

The Ukrainian armed forces were recently modernised but are outnumbered and outgunned by the invading Russians, figures from the International Institute for Strategic Studies in the UK show.

Russia already holds a major advantage in military manpower, with 900,000 active personnel in its armed forces, and 2 million in reserve.

READ MORE: Invasion reveals a host of weaknesses in Russia's military

In comparison, Ukraine has 196,000 and 900,000 reservists.

Russia also outnumbers Ukraine in terms of military equipment, for example it has more than 15,857 armoured fighting vehicles, to Ukraine's 3309.

But the determined resistance by outgunned Ukraine over the past seven days shows fighting spirit is important.

And Kyiv has been promised further supplies of modern military hardware, such as anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, from western countries including Australia.

Here are some of the weapons either on the battlefield or heading to it.

READ MORE: US to deliver drones, anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine after Zelenskyy speech

Drones

Among the array of new weapons the US is sending to the Ukrainian military is an advanced dive-bombing drone.

They are part of an additional $1 billion in military equipment as part of the Biden administration's $18.6 billion aid package for Ukraine.

The aerial weapons are tube-launched from the ground and plunge into their targets, according to people familiar with the plans, reports the Bloomberg agency.

The Switchblade drone has been used by US special forces soldiers since it was secretly sent to Afghanistan in 2010 for use against the Taliban. US Army officials have described it as a flying shotgun. It's less than 61cm long and weighs about 2.7kg, making it highly portable. It can fit into a soldier's rucksack.

In announcing the latest shipment of weapons for Ukraine, US President Joe Biden said they included "our most cutting-edge systems". Officials familiar with the planned arms package confirmed it included the armed Switchblade.

READ MORE: Russian bomb destroys Ukraine theatre housing 'hundreds' of civilians

Cruise missiles

The Russian military has used warplanes and Kalibr (Caliber) cruise missiles to hit facilities throughout Ukraine.

The Kalibr is a precision weapon, but Ukrainian military facilities and government buildings apparently targeted by those missiles in Kyiv and Kharkiv are located close to residential areas, resulting in civilian casualties.

The same applies to missiles carried by Russian warplanes, which targeted military infrastructure in strikes that also involved collateral damage.

To hit key targets, the Russian military also has used Iskander missiles that have a range of up to 500km and carry a much more powerful warhead that can destroy big buildings and some fortified facilities.

Some Iskander missiles were reportedly fired from the territory of Russian ally Belarus, which has served as a staging ground for the Russian invasion.

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Air power

Ukraine has pleaded for more warplanes as the Russian air force targets cities.

The US rejected a proposal from Poland to send Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine by way of a US-NATO air base in Germany.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been asking the West for MiG-29 fighter jets, which were used during the Cold War and that Ukrainian pilots were trained to use, to maintain control of the skies in his country as it remains under attack by Russia.

The air force has been far outnumbered by its much more powerful Russian counterpart, but Ukrainian pilots have continued to fly combat sorties and claim kills in combat.

NATO chiefs have also ruled out declaring a no-fly zone against Russian aircraft over Ukraine.

READ MORE: How plausible is Chinese military aid for Russia?

Molotov cocktail

From the start of the Russian invasion last Thursday, Ukrainian authorities broadcast instructions how to make this simple explosive device.

Ironically named after World War II Russian foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, they are made from a glass bottle filled with a flammable substance and topped with a cloth in the bottle rim.

When lit, the cloth acts as a wick, or fuse, before the bottle is thrown at an enemy.

On impact, the shattered glass releases the flammable liquid causing a fireball.

READ MORE: What happens if Putin holds oil supplies hostage?

'Vacuum bomb'

At the other end of the technological scale is Russia's controversial thermobaric weapon, or "vacuum bomb".

These munitions do not use conventional ammunition.

Instead, they are filled with high-temperature, high-pressure explosive.

They are sometimes called "vacuum bombs" because they suck in the oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a powerful explosion and a large pressure wave that can have enormous destructive effects.

Russia deployed thermobaric weapons in Chechnya during the 1990s, with horrifying consequences, according to Human Rights Watch.

Stinger missiles

In a significant strategic development, the US has decided to send shipments of Stinger missiles to Ukraine to fight the Russians.

Developed by the US Army in the 1980s, the Stinger is a 15-kilogram shoulder-mounted missile that uses an infrared sensor to locate an aircraft by its heat.

The 1.5-metre-long missile travels at twice the speed of sound and destroys its target with fragmentation explosives.

Stingers supplied by the Reagan administration successfully helped Afghan rebels shoot down Russian aircraft during the Afghanistan conflict in the 1980s.

Cluster bombs

Human rights groups say Russia is using cluster bombs in its invasion, a charge Moscow denies.

Cluster bombs are weapons that open in the air, releasing submunitions, or "bomblets," that are dispersed over a large area, intended to wreak destruction on multiple targets at once.

Cluster bombs can be delivered by planes, artillery and missiles, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Beyond the initial harm caused by the munitions upon impact, bomblets have a high rate of failure to explode, up to 40 per cent in some recent conflicts, according to the ICRC.

That leaves swathes of land dotted with bomblets that could explode among unsuspecting civilians.

Javelin anti-tank missile

Further stocks of this advanced land weapon have been promised by western countries for Ukraine to supplement shipments supplied by the US and Britain before Russia's invasion.

The Javelin is a lightweight, man-portable, shoulder-fired missile system that has been proven to destroy armoured vehicles in other global conflicts.

It has a range of up to 4000 metres and requires only 72 hours training for operators – a crucial factor for the desperate Ukrainian defenders.

– Reported with Associated Press, CNN

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More large Australian construction companies will fail this year, a building insolvency expert has warned, with thousands of sub-contractors, tradies and would-be new homeowners the vulnerable victims.

Andrew Spring, partner at building insolvency specialist Jirsch Sutherland, said it "wasn't surprising at all" to see two tier-one construction firms go bust in quick succession after Christmas, given the serious headwinds the sector is now facing.

He said it was "a definite possibility" other construction giants would follow Probuild and Condev into liquidation, creating a potential "domino-like effect" for sub-contractors and tradies who will be left out of pocket and saddled with debt.

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"The industry is in a really difficult position at the moment," Mr Spring told 9news.com.au, predicting that the tough times would likely stretch into 2023 because "it does take time for the full weight of these sort of (major) insolvencies to come home all the way down the chain".

Hopeful homeowners who had the misfortune to pick the wrong construction company won't escape the financial bomb.

Queensland couple Nicole and Daniel Jacobson have been forced to shell out an extra $130,000 to finish their home, after the building company they signed with, Privium Group, suddenly collapsed.

Affected by a construction company collapsing? Email data, down 27.9 per cent from December.

"The decline was much larger than economists had expected," Diana Mousina from AMP Investments said.

January approvals were 24.1 per cent lower compared to a year ago.

Ms Mousina predicted approvals would "track sideways" over the next few months, adding the reopening of Australia's international border should result in positive approval activity on a 12-month horizon.

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New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet will take two weeks of parental leave after the birth of his seventh child.

The leader said he will leave Deputy Premier Paul Toole in charge as Acting Premier. Stuart Ayres will assume the role of Acting Leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party.

Mr Perrottet will be back to work on Monday, April 4, but said he will return earlier if needed.

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"Given the current flood emergency I will continue to receive briefings on the response and recovery work and remain ready to return to official duties immediately should the need arise," Mr Perrottet said.

Mr Perottet announced the birth of the "beautiful" baby girl last night.

Her name is Celeste Grace Perrottet.

"Helen and I are absolutely thrilled to welcome our beautiful baby girl, Celeste Grace Perrottet, born last night," the premier wrote on Facebook.

"Both Mum and baby are doing well.

"She's looking forward to being kissed and cuddled, fought over and cherished by her big brother and sisters."

Mr Perrottet has six other children: Charlotte, Amelia, Annabelle, William, Harriet and Beatrice.

The 39-year-old father was sworn in as NSW's 46th premier last October following the shock resignation of Gladys Berejiklian.

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