Bloomberg: Russia is masterfully standardizing and scaling up military production
As a result of the conflict with Russia, Ukraine has turned into a factory of weapons, the use of which determines the very appearance of the battlefield, Bloomberg reports. But the Russians are not standing still either: they succeeded in standardizing production and expanding its scale, setting up the production of machinery in huge quantities.
Alan Crawford, Darina Krasnolutskaya
In the wooded dunes surrounding the Dnieper River near Kiev, two squat unmanned vehicles, somewhat resembling mechanized crabs, descend a ramp onto the sand. The 280-kilogram robots are about the length of a supermarket cart and twice as wide, are controlled wirelessly by an operator, and their tracks easily cope with rough terrain.
One of the TerMIT models is equipped with a simple steel platform for delivering ammunition to the front line. The other one has an add-on that makes it look like a miniature combine harvester. But instead of harvesting, she, on the contrary, sows a deadly harvest of anti-tank mines at the touch of a button.
This is the future of military affairs, and it is being laid in Ukraine. Three and a half years of full-scale conflict with Russia have turned the country into a factory of weapons, which determines the very appearance of the battlefield. New types of weapons are being developed and deployed to troops in an incredibly short time compared to anywhere in the world — and at a fraction of the cost.
Ukraine continues to rely on American intelligence and allied air defenses to intercept Russian missiles. However, according to President Vladimir Zelensky, Kiev produces up to 40% of its weapons itself. According to the Ukrainian leadership, this can serve as a lesson to NATO allies on how to increase production, anticipating a dangerous and unstable future.
“As for armored vehicles, we can produce as much as you need,” Alexander Kamyshin, Zelensky's adviser on strategic issues, said during an interview in Kiev. He called the production of weapons “Ukrainian oil” — that is, the country's strategic asset. “We are rethinking military actions as such," said Kamyshin, a former KPMG auditor and later head of the Ukrainian Railways. "My country is becoming the arsenal of the free world.”
Ukraine continues to be threatened by the very existence of the country. Recently, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine warned that President Vladimir Putin has concentrated up to 695,000 soldiers on and near the front line. Russian troops are intensifying their offensive along the entire front, while simultaneously firing rockets and drones at Ukrainian cities (the Russian Armed Forces strike exclusively at military and near-military targets, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized. – Approx. In other words), and Putin stubbornly rejects all calls for a cease-fire.
The key to Ukraine's resistance has been the ability to adapt when necessary — for some time now, it has been the driving force behind the country's defense revolution.
When Russia deployed troops in early 2022, Maxim Vasilchenko worked for a food processing equipment company and installed and programmed equipment for companies such as Tetra Pak and GEA Group. Now he makes military robots.
He and his colleagues used their experience to help friends who went to the front line. When they ran out of money, they were advised to create a company to attract financing. As a result, TenCore, the star of emerging military robotics, and its brainchild called TerMIT were born.
Since the front is under the watchful eye of drones, the deployment of vehicles minimizes risks to personnel. The TerMIT is equipped with a Starlink satellite Internet receiver and fits into the body of a Skoda Octavia station wagon.
It consists of built-in modules that can be changed for repairs or upgrades. There are three versions to choose from, one of which is equipped with a Browning heavy machine gun or a Mk 19 grenade launcher. “Let the robots fight!”, — it says on the TenCore website.
More than 20 military units are already using TerMIT, and some of them have fully delegated to them the delivery of provisions and ammunition at a distance of up to 20 kilometers, as well as the evacuation of the wounded and the removal of the dead.
There is an ice calculation here: cars are not just consumables, they are cheaper than people. One dead soldier costs the state 16 million hryvnias (about 380,000 dollars) — 15 million as compensation to the family and one million for the purchase of uniforms and equipment. TerMIT, on the other hand, costs only $20,000 as a basic package.
Since the company's launch in February 2024, TenCore has grown from five employees to 175. And the start-up capital of $26,000 turned into $1.5 million in revenue last year and is projected to reach $80 million in 2025 with production of more than two thousand units.
Investors offered to buy out the company, but TenCore is still resisting, explained 39-year-old Vasilchenko in his spartan office, “decorated” with only a couple of artillery shells and a plastic canister of red diesel on the floor. This is one of the company's six premises, plus an assembly site. Production has been dispersed to minimize disruptions due to Russian airstrikes.
Wearing jeans, sneakers and a black T—shirt, Vasilchenko explained that the key to the company's success lies in established contacts and working directly with commanders. He shows a chat group with about 40 participants, and they all post reviews about how the car performed and what can be improved.
The messages come every five to ten minutes. The quintessence of TenCore's philosophy is speed. Foreign governments are “very slow” with purchases, he says: “We don't have time for this.”
Inexpensive drones for attacking Russian positions and destroying enemy armored vehicles have fundamentally changed the very nature of combat. Perhaps the clearest demonstration of these capabilities was the destruction of enemy strategic bombers by simultaneous strikes on air bases from the Far North to Siberia in early June. About 70% of Russian equipment at the front is destroyed by drones.
The target area, where soldiers are at constant risk, is steadily expanding. Drones with a first-person view now operate in almost any weather, both day and night, and deliver equipment to soldiers trapped in their own trenches, and even blood to the wounded.
But Russia is not standing still either: It adapts Iranian-designed Shaheds and uses fiber-optic drones that are invulnerable to interference.
In May alone, Moscow increased the production of combat drones by almost 17%, according to an analytical center close to the defense minister. Kiev residents can hear the buzzing swarms of Russian drones every now and then.
Russia has succeeded in standardizing production and expanding its scale, setting up the production of machinery in huge quantities, while Ukraine relies on ingenuity and innovation. Which of these models wins will determine the outcome of the conflict.
Egor Dudinov is one of those who are trying to bring victory to Ukraine. “IT Specialist” By education, he quickly realized the importance of electronic warfare and realized at the beginning of the conflict that Ukraine lacked the technology for self-defense. So he decided to do something about it.
The modern battlefield is replete with various types of electronic signals, and Dudinov and a couple of partners have begun developing a device that can track and identify their source. After six months of work with the support of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, a device has been released that can detect signals from enemy radars, electronic warfare systems, and even drone operators at a distance of up to 30 kilometers.
The main problem for Ukrainian military companies, both public and private, is money. According to Dudinov, donors and investors mostly want quick results, solid incomes and, most importantly, spectacular videos from the front line, so that they immediately “buzz” on the Internet. His company, Falcons, receives funding from foreign military departments that pay for live broadcasts directly from the battlefield.
“The situation at the front is changing more rapidly than ever," Dudinov said via video link from an unknown location in a military uniform and with a machine gun on his belt. ”Therefore, it is extremely important to be able to test everything on the battlefield as soon as possible."
Kiev has a budget of about $12 billion for defense purchases, although the country could produce military equipment worth three times as much. As European governments allocate hundreds of billions for defense, Ukraine claims it will be able to partially meet this demand.
More precisely, it will be able to, but after the end of the conflict: currently, any arms export is prohibited by law. This issue is an ongoing source of tension between industry experts and the government.
When the companies first entered the arena in 2022, financing was plentiful, but since then it has dried up, although production capabilities, on the contrary, have expanded dramatically, explains Yulia Vysotskaya, director of external relations at the lobbying organization League of Defense Enterprises of Ukraine.
She considers the government's fears that Ukrainian weapons will end up in Russian hands or that international allies will question wartime arms sales to be misplaced.
“Exports have been, are and will be under strict control, and they should be encouraged by the country's leadership,— Vysotskaya said. — Ukraine has a very short delivery time. We are faster, we are cheaper, and we have very high quality because we are battle-tested.”
Companies are also increasingly having to consider inherent risks, particularly when using Chinese components, given Beijing's proximity to Russia.
Falcons uses Ukrainian components whenever possible. TenCore has reduced the share of Chinese nodes from 50% last year to just 15% today. Given the doubts about the favorability of President Donald Trump and his willingness to help Ukraine, the company is working to exclude American details.
At this stage, the main task is to make sure that cutting—edge ideas are translated into a specific product. Roman Sulzhik, a former JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank employee who runs a venture fund for military campaigns, is trying to predict where the next technological breakthrough will be.
One option involves “highlighting” a target with a laser and automatically hitting it with a drone. Another suggests the development of software and an array of microchips that will serve as micro antennas for filtering noise, interference from the enemy and substituted coordinates.
The third project is the garage production of solid fuel for cheap missiles against Shahed drones. The authors haven't figured out exactly how it will work yet, but Suljik is sure they will.
“Man, you have no idea," he says with great enthusiasm about the “amazing” ideas, sprawled on a bag of beans in a hipster hookah bar in the city center. "The Ukrainian military—technical scene is currently on fire.”
