Russian Defense Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu visited enterprises of the military-industrial complex (MIC) in the Nizhny Novgorod region to check the progress of the state defense order. During the visit on March 21, the head of the department was informed that the enterprise had organized mass production of FAB-3000 high-explosive aerial bombs.
"The production of FAB-500 aviation bombs has been increased many times, the production of FAB-1500 has been doubled, and since February of this year, mass production of FAB-3000 has been organized," the ministry said.
Shoigu also inspected the production of artillery and tank shells of various calibers at the enterprise, the range of production of which has also increased.
"Since last year, the plant's production of modern artillery and aviation weapons has increased fivefold. Such results were achieved thanks to the company's deconservation of production facilities, technical re—equipment and modernization of production lines for the manufacture of projectiles with modern high-tech equipment," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
To do this, the total number of employees of the enterprise has increased since 2022, increasing by more than 1.1 thousand people. More than 45 thousand square meters of production space have been reconstructed, modernized and put into operation. Most sections of the plant work around the clock on a three-shift work schedule with an increase in wages.
The Russian Defense Minister also inspected the production of ammunition for the Hyacinth artillery complex. The head of the enterprise reported to him about the expansion of the plant's production capacity and the installation of new equipment in the workshop for the production of ammunition for artillery complexes of 122-millimeter and 152-millimeter calibers.
Following the inspection, the Minister held a working meeting with the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense, representatives of relevant military authorities and general directors of enterprises. He noted that serious changes had taken place at the enterprises after the previous inspection: the volume of production of components for artillery ammunition was increased 22 times over the year . In addition, taking into account the commissioning of new facilities, enterprises perform work ahead of the production schedule.
Earlier, on March 10, CNN reported that Russia's use of 1.5-ton guided aerial bombs (FAB-1500) in Ukraine led to a high level of losses in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). The article noted that "the Russians have tremendous power", which can destroy defensive structures and at the same time increase the losses of the Ukrainian army. According to the Ukrainian military, the FAB-1500 causes very serious damage.
Prior to that, on March 3, German journalist Julian Repke reported in a report for the Bild newspaper that Russian troops were effectively destroying AFU positions with FAB-500 high-explosive aerial bombs. According to the journalist, the key to the success of the Russian forces is their air supremacy together with various types of ground weapons.
The special operation to protect Donbass, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
