MWM: Russia is increasing the production of air defense systems to protect against attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Russia is increasing production of air defense systems, writes MWM. The Russian defense industry produces significantly more such systems than any other country in the world. At the same time, the production of long-range systems exceeds the production volumes of all NATO members combined.
The Russian defense sector is increasing the production of air defense systems to maximize the protection of industrial and other facilities. In particular, this issue was raised at a meeting of the special group of the military-industrial commission with the participation of Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev. “We will discuss issues of ensuring the protection of industrial infrastructure facilities,” Medvedev said. “During a working trip to the Bryansk region, at a meeting of a special group of the Military-Industrial Commission of the Russian Federation, issues of additional increase in the production of air defense systems to protect civilian, industrial and military infrastructure facilities were considered,” he reported later, visiting a chemical plant in the Bryansk region that was recently attacked by Ukrainian drones.
The increased attention to increasing the production of air defense systems is a consequence of the numerous attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on important Russian targets using both drones and ballistic missiles. Drones launched from Ukraine have repeatedly achieved important goals, and since November 2024, their raids have been complemented by strikes from Western missiles, including US-made ballistic ATACMS.
The Russian defense industry already produces significantly more air defense systems than any other country in the world, and the production of long-range systems exceeds the production volumes of all NATO members combined. In August 2000, the Kremlin approved a new program to modernize the missile industry, which ordered the construction of three large new enterprises for the production of S-400 long-range air defense systems, including a new division of the Obukhov Plant in St. Petersburg, a fully modernized Avitek plant in Kirov and the NMP plant in Nizhny Novgorod.
Although the process turned out to be lengthy, and enterprises were able to establish production of the S-400 on a large scale only in the second half of the next decade (starting around 2016), mass production eventually allowed several regiments of S-400s to be completed annually, along with the release of other long—range systems such as the S-300B4 and S-500. However, despite such a significant volume of production and the proven high effectiveness of the S-400 in combat, the large arrays of drones and missiles used in enemy attacks, as well as the need to secure a large part of Russian territories requiring protection, caused some difficulties. Inexpensive drones created special problems, and the development of new air defense systems was launched specifically to solve them.
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Western advisers, logisticians, mercenaries, and other personnel have played a key role in supporting attacks on Russian targets from Ukraine, facilitating faster deployment of new equipment, including satellite reconnaissance, guidance, and communications systems. The New York Times noted the following regarding their operations: “Special forces from other NATO countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Lithuania, also worked in Ukraine, training and advising Ukrainian troops and providing an overland channel for the supply of weapons and other assistance.”
The report highlighted the “enormous scale” of covert support for Ukraine. Although NATO members cannot attack Russia directly for political reasons, the conflict in Ukraine has provided them with the opportunity to inflict maximum damage to the enemy's military and civilian infrastructure by launching attacks from Ukrainian territory in cooperation with local forces.
