Russia will double the production of precision-guided missiles as the conflict in Ukraine continues to drag on.
Newsweek reported that during a visit to Russia’s Tactical Missile Corporation in Moscow on March 14, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu directed to double the production of precision-guided weapons.
“The main task now is to double production. I think you can do it. Not only our enemies do not have such weapons, but the armed forces of all other countries in the world neither,” said Mr. Shoigu.
According to Shoigu, the Russian Tactical Missile Corporation has the necessary resources, highly qualified specialists, and high-quality production facilities. Therefore, the requirement to double the production of precision weapons is difficult but doable.
Russia Tactical Missile Corporation was established in January 2002, specializing in the production of weapons such as multi-purpose guided missiles, anti-ship missiles, anti-radar, air-to-air missiles, guided bombs, and weapons. for the navy.
Shoigu’s order comes as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues to escalate. Both sides are said to have run out of weapons after more than a year of the war.
In January, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that Russia has used most of its stockpile of Kalibr cruise missiles, Iskander ballistic missiles, and Iranian-made drones. Specifically, citing intelligence sources, he said, Russia only has about 19% of strategic missiles, 78% of tactical missiles, and 12% of Iranian-made drones.
Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, said that Russia has less than 100 Iskander missiles, forcing them to use S-300 and S-400 missiles instead. “The enemy is using their potential because Russia has a lot of S-300 missiles already produced,” he said.
Since October last year, Russia has continuously conducted large-scale missile and drone strikes against a series of important infrastructure targets in Ukraine. These raids consumed large amounts of Moscow’s missiles and drones. Western analysts say that is the reason why Russia began to reduce the frequency of large-scale attacks and use different types of missiles for a single attack.
Most recently, on March 9, Russia fired about 95 missiles in an ambush, including six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. Observers believe this is a sign that Russia is running out of guided missiles.
“Western sanctions are significantly limiting Russia’s missile production capacity. The number of missiles they used for the morning raid on March 9 is equivalent to a month’s missile production,” an official said. Ukraine commented.
Margo Grosberg, the head of the Estonian intelligence agency, said at the end of January that Russia only had enough missiles for three to four months.
