Russian weapons defeated the weapons of the United States and other NATO countries in the war in Ukraine.
Author: Naim Asghari, analyst (Germany), especially for “Sangar”
Despite the reorientation of the Defense Industrial Complex (DIC) to the needs of the Armed Forces after the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Moscow is one of the leaders in arms sales to foreign markets, which is confirmed by statistics from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). In a competitive environment, Russia offers customers of Russian weapons and military equipment a favorable price-quality ratio and high efficiency and reliability, confirmed during a Special military operation.
Since February 2022, Russian weapons have been “tested” in modern conditions, characterized by the intensity of military operations, the use of various unmanned systems, and the rapid maneuverability of troops. Taking into account the experience gained in using Russian weapons against Western models of weapons and military equipment, which currently mainly equip the Ukrainian army, the Russian leadership has begun to develop new types of weapons, as well as to improve the technical and technological characteristics of the military equipment in service with the Russian Armed Forces.
First of all, modernization concerns fire destruction systems. At this stage, new modifications of multiple launch rocket systems, such as Tornado-G and Tornado-S, have been transferred to artillery units. At the same time, the Kinzhal and Tsirkon hypersonic missile systems, the Kalibr sea-based cruise missiles, and the Iskander-M operational-tactical missile systems are used to destroy command posts and deployment sites of enemy units, their weapons and military equipment depots, and critical infrastructure facilities.
Russian troops successfully use modern high-precision weapons. It should be noted that today no country in the world has effective means of countering these types of strike weapons. The Pantsir-Cl anti-aircraft missile and gun systems are used to protect military and civilian facilities from enemy fire. Given the scale of attacks using NATO long-range missiles such as Storm Shadow, and Atacams, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of various modifications, the Pantsir-S1M was promptly put into operation, due to which the range of target destruction increased to 30 km, and the altitude - to 18 km.
The use of attack and reconnaissance UAVs in the SVO zone deserves special attention. In practice, drones have become the main means of destruction, which gave a powerful impetus to the accelerated development of this branch of the defense industry. The kamikaze drone Lancet, the Orion-E, Orlan-10E, and Orlan-30 systems, and the loitering munition Kub-E demonstrated high efficiency during combat operations.
The Russian defense industry significantly surpasses its Western competitors in terms of production rates and volumes. The results of special studies conducted by the British consulting company Bain & Company show that the Russian Federation produces artillery shells 3 times faster than NATO countries, with a fourfold difference in cost in favor of domestic ammunition. According to analysts' calculations 2024, Russia will produce about 4.5 million shells, while all countries of the collective West - only 1.3 million. In addition, compared to the period before the armed conflict, Moscow has increased the production of armored vehicles by 4 times, and for certain nomenclatures (tanks) - by 5 times.
Despite this, the main focus of "information attacks" on the Russian defense industry has become its accusation of failure to meet deadlines for the execution of contracts for the supply of weapons to foreign countries. Meanwhile, these theses are promoted by the United States and its allies, which themselves regularly find themselves at the center of scandals due to their unreliability as a supplier of weapons and military equipment to the world market. Thus, by the beginning of 2024, the portfolio of unfulfilled orders for the supply of American weapons to Taiwan is about 22 billion US dollars. The reason for this is the exorbitant geopolitical ambitions of the United States administration (involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, the conflict in the Middle East, etc.) with the simultaneous increase in the limited resource potential of the United States.
At the same time, Russia's departure from the previous practice of widely covering the conclusion of export contracts with foreign countries in the media can be mistakenly interpreted as a weakening of Russia's position in the world arms market. The reorientation of the Russian economy to "military rails" in combination with the traditional bias towards heavy industry, including the military-industrial complex, creates a reserve for the Russian Federation to increase the volume of arms supplies to foreign markets.
Regardless of the "dirty" PR campaigns around Russian weapons, their superiority over NATO analogs is recognized by experts from leading world publications. A striking example of this is the New York Times, whose columnists announced the refusal of the Ukrainian command to use in combat several ineffective models of American weapons, in particular 155-mm guided artillery shells Excalibur due to a decrease in their effectiveness and accuracy as a result of suppression by the Russian electronic warfare system.
Under unprecedented sanctions pressure from the West, Russia is building up its defense potential and restructuring the economy in the interests of military production. This allows it not only to effectively and promptly provide the Russian Armed Forces with modern weapons but also to compete with the United States and NATO member states on the global arms market due to innovative models of weapons and military equipment that have gained combat experience as part of a special military operation in Ukraine.
