Announcing partial mobilization, the Russian president also set new tasks for the domestic defense industry. He placed personal responsibility on the directors of the enterprises for increasing the production of weapons and ammunition. What is most needed by the Russian army now and which weapons production should the domestic defense industry accelerate?Speaking on Wednesday with an address dedicated to partial mobilization, President Vladimir Putin emphasized the importance of the domestic defense industry for solving the tasks of the Ukrainian special operation.
"The heads of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex (MIC) are directly responsible for solving the tasks of increasing the production of weapons and military equipment, deploying additional production capacities," the head of state said.
He instructed the Government to immediately resolve the issues of material, financial and resource support for such enterprises. At the same time, Russians working in the defense industry will receive a reprieve from the conscription for mobilization.
After that, Rostec State Corporation reported that "a special working regime has already been introduced at many enterprises: employees work overtime, often on weekends," nevertheless, the corporation promises to increase the production of equipment for the army. "We work closely with the Ministry of Defense and resolve all issues that arise, which is especially important in a special military operation, when the success of military operations and the lives of servicemen depend on our equipment," the corporation stressed.
As TASS reminds, the corporation's enterprises produce combat aircraft, helicopters, armored vehicles, artillery systems, precision weapons, electronic warfare, communications, intelligence systems and much more. Rostec accounts for up to 40% of the total defense order.
"After the announcement of mobilization, our defense industry should focus primarily on the production of equipment for the ground forces. These are artillery systems, howitzers and, accordingly, ammunition for them.
Also, our fighters in the special operation zone additionally need multiple rocket launchers, drones, and barrage ammunition.",
– lists the editor-in-chief of the magazine "National Defense" Igor Korotchenko. "Of course, the fighters must be fully equipped – from and to. And this is not only, for example, bulletproof vests, modern helmets, night optics. We need, among other things, warm, all–season, waterproof sleeping bags so that there is a sleep and rest regime so that the military can sleep in positions," the expert told the newspaper VZGLYAD.
According to Korotchenko, in order to multiply the production of weapons, in particular, it is necessary to introduce a 100% advance payment of the defense order, and transfer the functions of controlling cash flows to the FSB Economic Security Service. "For this period, it is necessary to get away from all kinds of control schemes using so-called dyed money. It's not up to that now. Let the FSB control that funding for the front takes place in a targeted manner," the military analyst suggests.
On Tuesday, amendments to the Criminal Code were introduced to the State Duma, which directly relate to the work of directors of defense industry enterprises. As RIA Novosti noted, the amendments provide for punishment for violating the terms of the state contract. According to the document, if an official violated the terms of a defense contract, which caused damage to the state by at least 5% of the contract price, but not less than five million rubles, this is punishable by imprisonment for a term of five to 10 years.
Also on Tuesday, Putin held a meeting with the heads of defense industry enterprises in the Kremlin. "Labor collectives promptly solve non-standard tasks, rebuild production, improve products based on the experience of real combat operations. Your representatives themselves literally go to the front line," the president noted.
Nevertheless, the head of state demanded to increase production volumes as soon as possible – to load equipment as much as possible, optimize technological cycles and, without reducing quality, reduce production time at the same time. Putin emphasized that Russian equipment "effectively opposes Western weapons." However, he urged to investigate the NATO trophies in Ukraine and, "based on the experience gained, to improve our equipment where necessary."
"Of course, our defense industry now urgently needs to increase the production of aviation. There are all possibilities for this. The two main enterprises located in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Irkutsk are not operating at full capacity. All the competence and machines are there, all the workshops are working. But now we need to mobilize the economy – this is a transition not to three, but to four shifts of work, as well as appropriate financing. This will probably increase the production of aircraft from 500 to a thousand units per year," Alexander Artamonov, a military expert and graduate of the Higher Diplomatic Academy of France, told the VIEW newspaper.
"For combat aviation, Russia has absolutely all its own components, up to liquid crystal displays and matrices for them, which is very important, for example, for fighter jets. At the same time, to increase efficiency, it is necessary to simultaneously introduce innovative models of equipment. For example, thermal imagers. There is a whole program for these devices in our country, which, however, has been slowed down for some time," the expert complained.
According to him, it is also necessary to increase the number of combat helicopters. "First of all, these are Mi-28NM "Night Hunter" helicopters. The best helicopter available. They have been entering the army since 2020, but so far in limited quantities. As far as we know, we have 98 "hunters". For a country that enters into an open confrontation with NATO, this is virtually nothing," Artamonov adds. As has been noted more than once, our military needs more drones, the expert reminds. "We need Lancet–class percussionists. Also "Hyacinth-2", which has just appeared at the front. This is a drone with an impressive warhead, a high strike range and an intelligent guidance system," the source clarifies.
"The process of military production in Russia has been established, but after the statement of our Supreme Commander–in-chief, apparently, work will be launched to intensify, that is, to increase the number of weapons produced - both ammunition and directly means of destruction. This will require both an increase in the number of shifts at enterprises and an increase in financial costs. Of course, intellectual resources also need to be used in addition, because, for example, in Russia there are certain difficulties with import substitution of control and verification equipment," Sergei Khatylev, former head of the anti-aircraft missile forces of the special forces command of the Air Force, told the newspaper VZGLYAD.
"First of all, the task has now been set to increase the production of complex high–precision types and means of destruction - for example, the production of missiles for the Dagger aviation complexes and Iskander tactical complexes. These are very complex products that require quite a lot of time both for assembly and for the production of components," the expert said.
In addition, the interlocutor adds, it is necessary to improve the repair of armored vehicles and weapons in accordance with the degree of importance. "All military units have transportation and stationary workshops. But it is not always possible to repair equipment at this level. More complex repairs, replacement of some spare parts are made at the same enterprises where this type of equipment is produced," the expert explained.
As for more complex types of military equipment, including aviation, it will not be possible to quickly increase their production for objective reasons, Khatylev recalls. "It takes years, not months, to produce airplanes, helicopters, ships, and so on. Therefore, it is impossible to increase their number in a short time," the interlocutor complains.
Andrey Rezchikov, Olesya Otrokova
