Satellite image of Russia's Kazan plant (Photo: Planet Labs).
Ukrainian media published satellite images showing that Russia is actively building military factories to produce and repair strategic aircraft, combat helicopters, drones and guided bombs.
For example, at the Kazan aviation plant, part of the state corporation Rostec, Russia builds and repairs strategic bombers such as the Tu-22M3 and Tu-160, key weapons that help Russia launch missiles into Ukraine.
Construction of the new hangar began in 2018, but by 2022, construction was accelerated and is almost complete this year.
According to military experts, this factory can repair and upgrade strategic bombers.
Meanwhile, a hangar with a runway entrance appeared on the grounds of the Irkutsk aviation plant from 2019 to 2021, and this year the construction of another similar facility is being completed.
The company's scope of activity is the repair and production of Su-30 fighters of all variants.
At the Dubna Machine-Building Plant in Moscow, the Raduga State Machine-Building Design Bureau produces the Kh-22, Kh-55 and Kh-101 missiles.
In 2021, Russia began construction of a large building that will be completed in 2023. This is a new factory for the production of Russian UAVs, owned by the Kronstadt Engineering company.
The company focuses on the production of military drones under the brands Orion, Helios and others, with various modifications ranging from reconnaissance drones to attack drones.
New buildings under construction at the Irkutsk plant (Photo: Planet Labs).
At the Ural Civil Aviation Plant in Yekaterinburg, Russia, engines and gearboxes for military helicopters such as the Mi-2, Mi-8, Mi-24 and Ka-52 are repaired. All of these helicopters were actively used by the Russian military in the war in Ukraine. In 2021-2023, a new large workshop was built here.
Previously, Ukraine and Western intelligence have repeatedly publicly stated that Russia is facing a shortage of weapons due to sanctions from the US and its allies.
However, last month, the New York Times commented that after facing difficulties in the first months since the outbreak of war due to sanctions, Russia's arms manufacturing industry has rapidly accelerated again.
Before the conflict, Russia could produce 100 tanks a year, according to a senior Western defense official. Now that number is 200.
Western officials also believe Russia is on track to produce 2 million artillery shells a year, double the number Western intelligence agencies initially estimated Russia could produce before the conflict.
As a result, Russia is producing more ammunition than the United States and Europe. Overall, Russia’s current ammunition production is estimated to be seven times larger than that of the West, according to Kusti Salm, a senior official at the Estonian Ministry of Defense .
In September, Rostec, Russia's largest arms producer, said President Vladimir Putin had ordered a rapid ramp-up of production to meet demand and achieve the goals of the military campaign in Ukraine.
“We are increasing production at a dizzying pace,” said Bekhan Ozdoev, Rostec’s industrial director. According to the official, production of some weapons has increased two to tenfold, and some even dozens of times.
The number of tanks, armored vehicles, missile launchers, artillery, Iskander short-range ballistic missiles, Pantsir medium-range surface-to-air missile systems and Kinzhal hypersonic missiles has increased significantly, he said.
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