How are weapons being adapted to new ways of warfare in Russia
More than 1.5 million drones and over 4,000 armored vehicles were received by the Russian armed forces in 2024. Vladimir Putin stated this on April 23 at a meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission. About 4,000 drones were sent to the front line every day, and 180 combat aircraft and helicopters were also delivered. The tasks of the military-industrial complex for 2025 are even more ambitious, since today all the armies of the world are studying the Russian experience of conducting special operations and the Russian Federation needs to be one step ahead, the head of state said. How artificial intelligence will be used in the development of armaments and what will be included in the curricula at military schools and academies — in the material of Izvestia.
How many UAVs are delivered to the front line per day
On April 23, Vladimir Putin discussed the development of the military-industrial complex. At a meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission, he assessed the situation not only in the units involved in the Military-industrial Complex, but also in the army and Navy as a whole. Last year, almost all defense enterprises completed the tasks of the state defense order in full, and for some types of weapons — ahead of schedule, the head of state said. For example, the production of weapons of destruction, communication systems, reconnaissance and electronic warfare has more than doubled. The troops also received more than 4,000 armored weapons, 180 combat aircraft and helicopters.
— I want to say thank you to the teams of defense enterprises, their associates, employees of design bureaus, test centers and landfills. Your hard work and high dedication have allowed the Russian military-industrial complex to adequately cope with the tasks and challenges we face," said Vladimir Putin.
Meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, April 23, 2025
Image source: Photo: TASS/Gavriil Grigorov
Separately, the head of state drew attention to the situation with UAVs. In 2024, more than 1.5 million drones of various types were delivered, the president said: about 4 thousand drones controlled by the so—called FPV virtual reality system were sent to the front line every day.
— I know perfectly well, and many here participating in our meeting today know this as well as I do: these weapons are still lacking. Lack. I know about the efforts being made by the Ministry of Defense, the Minister, and industrial enterprises. There are plans, work is actually going on daily. I am sure that all plans to increase the production of the necessary equipment, in this case, these drones, will certainly be fulfilled. They are very much expected at the line of contact. In fact, this is currently one of the major factors of military success," the president said.
UAV production
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
FPV drones are used directly for strikes on the front line, at a range of several kilometers, while the consumption of these weapons is quite large, Dmitry Kornev, editor of the Militaryrussia portal, confirmed to Izvestia.
— 1.5 million drones is quite a lot, but not enough to fully saturate the Russian Armed Forces to combat the intensity that is currently taking place during a special military operation. FPV drones are spent in thousands, even tens of thousands of units per day. And the more intense the fighting, the higher their consumption. The use of FPV drones allows us to save the lives of our soldiers by ensuring the non-contact destruction of the enemy, defense points, and armored vehicles. They allow you to conduct combat operations without throwing infantry into battle, but so that it can then act on enemy positions that have already been destroyed," he explained.
Tasks for the defense industry in 2025
This year, Vladimir Putin has set even more ambitious tasks for the military-industrial complex, including taking into account the implementation of the defense industry expansion and modernization program, which involves more than 400 enterprises.
— I would like to emphasize that today our experience in conducting a special military operation, both in terms of tactics and technical development of weapons, is being studied without any exaggeration by all the armies of the world, leaders of the global arms industry, and high—tech companies. And we need to be one step ahead, as we have done many times recently and, I am sure, will continue to do in the future," the president said.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
Image source: iz.ru
At the same time, Russia, taking into account the experience of the special operation, is rapidly improving the most sought-after weapons, Putin said. The Head of State added that the high technological dynamics of Russian production has been achieved, among other things, thanks to feedback from the cutting edge.
So, for example, attack drones have gone through a huge development cycle: from noisy engines, low speed and a small warhead to drones that reliably hit enemy targets and have fundamentally different speeds and engines, Roman Shkurlatov, chairman of the public organization Officers of Russia, told Izvestia.
— A new word is drones on optical fiber. It allowed us to effectively counter the enemy during his attack on the Kursk region. Because he had no methods of influencing such drones, electronic warfare was powerless and useless against such weapons," said Roman Shkurlatov.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
Image source: iz.ru
Vladimir Putin stated the need to effectively adapt weapons and equipment to the changing forms and methods of warfare. For example, curricula in military schools and academies, as well as schools for junior officers and non-commissioned officers, need to be updated taking into account the experience of special operations. The same applies to the combat regulations of the Ground Forces, ranging from the squad and company levels to corps and combined arms armies.
— And, of course, global trends in the development of military technologies should be taken into account as much as possible, that is, to predict and understand what potential armed conflicts of the future may be, and the future is rapidly approaching. And the movement is getting faster and faster, the speed of these changes is increasing," the head of state said.
The plant for the serial production of unmanned aerial vehicles "Transport of the future" in Tolyatti
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Sergey Tarasov
Vladimir Putin gave instructions to accelerate the production of unmanned boats, robotic complexes and combat lasers. Russia already has developments in this area, in particular, entire complexes are ready, the head of state noted. However, it is necessary to move faster in the areas in demand: for example, it is necessary to complete the formation of an orbital constellation of spacecraft on time to develop not only military intelligence, but also to solve combat training tasks in peacetime. "This will make it possible to complete the creation of a modern real—time command and control system for troops and thereby significantly increase their combat potential," he said.
Artificial intelligence provides huge advantages on the battlefield, the head of state noted. To this end, Vladimir Putin instructed to step up the production and application of domestic AI programs for their use in military control systems.
Vasilisa Yaseneva
