The head of Rostec spoke about the creation of the State Corporation, current international military—technical cooperation and the advantages of Russian weapons.
Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec State Corporation, in an interview with the Scout magazine, spoke about how the State Corporation was created and what is its main success, assessed the current level of military-technical cooperation between Russia and other countries, noted the advantages of Russian weapons over foreign analogues, and also gave advice to the younger generation on how to find their place in life.
— Sergey Viktorovich, you have been heading Rostec for almost 20 years, and you can say that you were at the origin of the revival of Russian engineering. Tell us, what was the reason for the decision to create the state corporation and what do you consider the main success over the past time?
— Rostec was established in 2007 as a logical response to the current situation in the Russian defense industry. At that time, dozens of companies were in bankruptcy, lost their capacities, and many were no longer working. Designers and engineers, in search of earnings, went to trade on the market. We were losing people and businesses who were supposed to forge the shield and sword of our country.
At that time, I was the head of Rosoboronexport and I was well aware that it would take a little more time and everything would finally come to a standstill, arms exports would come to naught. And our army will also have nothing to supply. That's when the idea came up to create a powerful state-owned holding company with centralized management that would combine defense assets and help overcome the crisis.
The president supported us. Financing was attracted, investments and orders were placed. It was possible to restore production and restart cycles. Three years later, Rostec came out of the loss and began to bring stable profits.
The corporation acted as a "reanimation", bringing back to life a huge number of defense plants, research institutes, design bureaus. We have already passed the main stage of formation. Nevertheless, today we are engaged in asset recovery. Among the latest examples, I will mention UAC, UVZ, Kurganmashzavod.
Let me remind you that Rostec is the largest engineering company in the country. We produce thousands of types of products: airplanes, helicopters, engines, energy machines, medical devices, and even vaccines. We employ more than 700,000 specialists, which means we are the number one employer in industry. Revenue and other financial indicators are constantly growing. Last year, it amounted to more than 3 trillion rubles, and a third of it was provided by civilian production. This is probably the main success.
— Today, Rostec supplies up to 80% of weapons and equipment for its needs, enterprises are loaded with orders and work to win in two or three shifts. In your opinion, is there still a strong dependence on supplies from abroad, and if so, in what components? What needs to be done to completely eliminate bottlenecks?
— To begin with, no one in the world provides for themselves in everything. For example, parts for Boeing are supplied by more than 50 countries. You will also find components from different countries in the iPhone or Tesla. Another issue is that Russia finds itself in special conditions. The theory of the global division of labor does not work in our country. The numerous Western partners that we had before 2022 failed us. There is no trust in them anymore and there never will be.
Therefore, of course, we protect Russian interests at least in strategically important sectors. In addition to the defense industry, these include space, aviation, energy, and medicine. That is, everything that our sovereignty and ability to protect the vital interests of the state and citizens depend on.
I think that there will always be something missing, and we will have to find new difficult solutions. But this is due to the constant development of technology and, especially rapidly, the military. Our goal is to keep the number of bottlenecks, as you put it, to a minimum. This is quite realistic, and there are successes here. For example, we have launched mass production of UAVs and high-precision weapons in a short time: guided missiles, anti-tank complexes, missiles for helicopters and tactical systems. They have been modified taking into account the experience of their own, they fly further and hit very accurately.
In addition, today Rostec enterprises produce excellent radar and optical equipment. In particular, thermal imagers for various purposes. Functionally, they are not inferior to foreign models, but they are cheaper.
— The Corporation's specialists are carefully studying all the foreign equipment that fell into the hands of our fighters during their military operations. Is it possible to extract something useful or new for us?
— We study all the trophies that come to us. If we come across something useful, of course, we take it into our "piggy bank". Sometimes we look at it and realize that it's a good technique, but it's completely inapplicable in our reality. For example, the German Leopard tank is made at a high level: modern components, a fire control system, a powerful engine, albeit with strange temperature restrictions. But we did not see any breakthrough design solutions, that is, we have nothing to take from Leopard and apply ourselves.
Our experts also looked at the American Abrams, which is generally an interesting car, although there is nothing to take there either. I would like to take another look at the British Challenger, more out of curiosity. It is clear in advance that this is a "pan" that is not very suitable for real battles. The main problem of most foreign cars is the complexity of the design and time—consuming maintenance. The example of Ukraine clearly shows what this leads to.
If we compare their tanks and ours, then the advantages of the same T-90M "Breakthrough" are in firepower, armor and mobility. He has a longer "arm" due to the guided munition and all-angle dynamic protection. There have been cases when dozens of Ukrainian drones got into the car, but it remained operational.
Some experts, including ours, praise "Bradley." In my opinion, it's an unjustified delight. We looked at it from different angles: there are advantages in terms of protection and convenience of the troop compartment. However, this does not prevent our weapons from destroying the American infantry fighting vehicle, along with the crew and troops.
The Bradleys have a serious weak point: they have problems with cross‑country driving, which makes them unable to walk normally off-road through fields. They get stuck in the black soil and become an easy target due to their huge size. Well, what's the point of improved security if there's only one result? Almost all the Bradleys delivered to Ukraine have been destroyed today. Still, we must remember that the infantry fighting vehicle is not a tank. This car must be fast, mobile, passable, and able to cross rivers by swimming, without bridges or roads. Our infantry fighting vehicles can do this, but the American ones can't.
— How would you assess the current state of military-technical cooperation between Russia and foreign countries? How much has the situation changed since the beginning of the SVR? Are anti-Russian sanctions affecting Moscow's partners?
— Since the beginning of our time, we have been living in the paradigm of "everything for the front, everything for Victory." Our factories are focused on meeting the needs of the Russian army. There is a war going on, the needs are very high, there is no need to explain. As a result, along with the current export shipments (and they continue, no matter what), pent-up demand is formed. During the three years of the special operation, our enterprises have significantly increased their production capacities and are ready to fulfill both government orders and export orders.
Currently, Russia's arms export portfolio exceeds $60 billion, with Rostec enterprises accounting for more than 70%. Rosoboronexport cooperates with almost all countries of the Middle East and the Global South. There is a demand for nomenclature for all types and branches of the armed forces.
I would add that today the military-technical cooperation is not limited to the supply of finished products. We have a large portfolio of technological cooperation projects in different regions of the world. This includes localization of production and joint development. A good example of the latter is the contract with India for the production of engines for the Indian T-72 in this country.
As for the sanctions, of course, they make it difficult to work. For this reason, the topic of military-technical cooperation is hardly discussed publicly today. If you've noticed, we don't tell you much about the results of the business programs of the exhibitions and the concluded contracts. In addition, we have abandoned the dollar in calculations, most contracts are concluded in rubles or national currencies.
— All the weapons that Russia presented at the IDEX 2025 exhibition in the UAE had real use in combat conditions and are constantly being upgraded taking into account its experience. Does this factor have an impact on the demand of foreign customers?
— The interest in our products abroad is very high. They follow the events in Ukraine, they see Russian weapons in action, not on the catwalks. So, IDEX was very impressed with our T-90MS "Breakthrough" with improved protection against attack UAVs, modern ATGMS and RPGs. The machine is maximally adapted to anti-tank threats, capable of repelling many attacks of new weapons. It is so maintainable that the tanks return to service several times without loss of combat qualities.
The Pantsir-SMD-E air defense system, which can use mini-missiles and fight groups of drones, attracted a lot of attention. The latest Kub-2E attack UAVs, an upgraded Kornet-EM anti-tank complex with a remote control, a Bulat missile, and new shooting models were shown.
At the moment, the vast majority of our products have been tested in the SVO area. These are Su-35 and Su-57 fighters, Su-34 front-line bombers, Ka-52M and Mi-28NM attack helicopters. Tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, heavy flamethrower systems, various types of MLRS, armored vehicles of the MRAP class. Missile systems, reconnaissance systems, small arms, equipment and much more. All of them have proven to be highly effective, have been upgraded and adapted to new challenges, conditions and threats. This is the advantage of our products.
— Rostec is one of the executors of the national Digital Economy project, and the Corporation's development strategy includes the transition from hardware to intelligence. What are the results of this process today, in which areas are innovations being successfully implemented, including artificial intelligence, and do you have any concerns about the spread of AI in the defense industry?
— Recently, all companies have been striving to make their products more and more "smart". Today, it's not enough for a person to have a car, he wants the car to stay in the lane on its own, steer or even take control. This applies equally to both military and civilian equipment. It is easier for a pilot to control a fighter jet, which solves many tasks by itself, leaving the pilot the right to press the button or not. In other words, AI, automation, and robotics are becoming technological trends.
Of course, Rostec is not standing aside. For example, our partner, Vansel, uses AI to provide digital analytics of biomaterials for cancer patients. This increases the accuracy of diagnosis and helps you choose the right course of treatment. The likelihood of medical errors is minimized. More than a million diagnoses have already been made using this technology.
KAMAZ has developed unmanned trucks that already carry out commercial transportation on the M-11 highway and on the Central Ring Road in the Moscow region. The share of innovative products and solutions will grow every year, and the future belongs to them. With one prerequisite: the right to a decisive vote must remain with the person. If we entrust machines with excessive independence, we will open a Pandora's box.
— What other tasks in the field of transformation and modernization are facing the holding in the medium and long term?
— A new Rostec Development Strategy until 2036 is currently being approved. This is a voluminous document that sets out our goals, company vision and mission. I won't bore you with complicated calculations. I can only say that its focus is on scientific and technological development in both the military and civilian spheres. Great attention is also paid to the preservation of human capital. Our employees are the main value of the corporation, the foundation of progress.
We intend to become a sustainable, diversified company both in terms of products and customer balance. Peaceful products should make a significant contribution to our sales portfolio. We have identified target markets where we can successfully compete, including at the global level. At the same time, we clearly understand that, first of all, we have been, are, and will be focused on solving the most important tasks of the state.
— Rostec is one of the leading employers in the market, famous for its corporate spirit. Tell us, how do you maintain team cohesion, motivate staff, and how do you manage to attract young people to production today?
— The tasks that we face are very ambitious and ambitious. That's why we have a high demand for personnel. By 2028, we intend to attract about 160,000 specialists, including 30,000 engineers. It is no secret that there is a large shortage of personnel in the labor market today. Of course, we try to encourage people financially: to provide a decent level of salaries, a social package tailored to the needs of a particular employee, including VHI, a housing program, a recreation and recreation program, non-governmental pension provision, various types of financial assistance, preferential banking products.
But it's not just about money. The guys are interested in large-scale and interesting projects. They often lack information about the scientific and technological tasks that our design bureaus solve, and they are unaware of the technological leadership projects that are being implemented in the country. That's why we go to schools. Our young scientists and engineers conduct open lessons, and businesses invite children to field trips and internships.
We act as industrial partners for about 200 engineering classes across the country, and we support the Zvezda Engineering Olympiad. This year, over 580,000 students took part in it. We offer students targeted training at partner colleges and universities, where, under the guidance of mentors from our enterprises, students can get a sought-after profession that guarantees employment in the holding companies. This is a complex work involving about 200 colleges and 140 universities.
In addition, this year, together with the Ministry of Education and Science, we launched a postgraduate industrial training project. In other words, we are creating conditions for young people to learn and constantly improve. There are many interesting areas: electronics, biomedicine, aircraft engineering, instrument engineering, chemical industry. A huge field of activity!
— Given the specifics of the magazine, I can't help but ask you a question about intelligence, where did you start your professional career? Do you remember the feeling of your first day in the service and how you remember working in intelligence in general?
— First of all, this job taught me not to talk about work. (Laughs.) I was 30 years old, an adult already, but, of course, I didn't have enough experience at that time. Under the guidance of Lazar Lazarevich Matveev, he went through, one might say, a real school of life. A brilliant officer, father commander! He was the head of our small intelligence group.
Working in intelligence requires patriotism, unconditional discipline, special thoughtfulness, and the ability to see people. She probably made me who I am in many ways.
— And finally. What would you wish for readers, including young people, who are just looking for themselves and their place in life?
— We see that young people today are different, not like we were at their age or our parents. They grow up in different conditions, in the era of the Internet and digital technologies, and no longer think in the "pioneer" or "Komsomol" categories in which, for example, we, the children of the USSR, reasoned. This is neither good nor bad. Just a statement of fact, which is important to keep in mind when we think about the fate of today's youth.
If we talk about the upbringing of young people, I would single out three fundamental points: patriotism, hard work and responsibility. If the new generation loves their country, works for its good and understands that the future of Russia depends only on them and no one else, we can be calm for them and for the future of the country.
There is a saying: "Experience is more useful than a thousand tips." It is impossible to rewrite life, and it is not necessary. Everyone has their own experience, their own path to follow. Therefore, I will give you universal advice.: No matter what happens, always remain human.
