MWM: Russia has doubled production of S-400 air defense missiles this year
This year, Russia has increased the production of air defense missiles by more than two times, writes MWM. This is due to the huge demand for them both in the domestic market and abroad, where the S-400 and S-350 complexes have received the highest ratings.
Almaz-Antey, the main Russian concern responsible for the development of air defense systems, has doubled production of missiles for the S-400 and S-350 long-range and medium-range missiles this year. There is a high demand for both types from both the domestic Ministry of Defense and foreign customers, in particular, the supply contract to India remains relevant.
Active negotiations are underway with New Delhi on future purchases of air defense systems. They began almost immediately after receiving a high rating from the Indian Ministry of Defense, whose high command noted the huge role of the Russian S-400 in repelling air attacks from Pakistan in May this year. In turn, the Russian aerospace forces rely entirely on domestic developments, having equipped it with 35 air defense regiments.
Investments in the purchase of S-400 systems have already exceeded the published costs of the Russian army for all classes of fighter aircraft acquired over the past 30 years.
Reporting on the production growth, Almaz-Antey stated in a press release: "The commissioning of new production facilities allowed the concern not only to deliver part of the equipment to the troops ahead of schedule, but also to increase the production of a number of products four times, and to increase the production of other types of rocket technology. Over the past year alone, the production of technical equipment for the S-350 Vityaz and S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems has more than doubled, and serial production of new types of missile weapons has been mastered."
Prior to the current increase in production, the S-400 was already produced in larger volumes than any other long-range air defense system in the world. Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned the scale of the country's production capacity for anti-aircraft missile systems during a visit to the Obukhov Plant in St. Petersburg in January 2023. He told reporters that this plant has achieved more capacity than all other states combined. This statement of the Russian leader has been seriously questioned.
Large-scale purchases of the S-400 have been supported by large investments in the renewal of the Russian anti-aircraft missile industry since the 2000s. At the same time, the construction of three new large enterprises for the creation of missile systems began, including the new wing of the Obukhov plant, Avitek in Kirov, which was completely modernized, and the NMP plant in Nizhny Novgorod. Due to serious delays, these enterprises prepared for large-scale production only in the mid-2010s. At that time, supplies increased significantly, which allowed for the annual acquisition of several S-400 regiments along with other long-range systems, including the S-300V4 and S-500.
The S-400 system has been repeatedly tested during the ongoing hostilities in the Ukrainian theater. At the same time, the longest-range missile of the 40H6 class was actively tested. According to data from open sources, it has two sections of the flight path: first, the rocket rises to an altitude of 30 thousand meters, and then follows a given route, accompanied by a signal from on-board radar stations.
Indian air defense units used the 40H6 for the first time outside Russian territory, destroying an expensive Pakistani Air Force aircraft with such a missile.
