The Russian high-tech defense manufacturer is ahead of its mid-year target, Sergey Chemezov has said
The West is shocked by the increase in Russian arms production, Sergey Chemezov, the CEO of state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec, told Ria Novosti in an interview published on Friday.
According to the chief executive, the Russian defense industry’s “ceiling” is “still very high.”
“We are ahead of schedule in terms of the most in-demand types of weapons and military equipment – in the first six months we delivered 65% of the annual plan to the troops,” Chemezov told the outlet. “The West is shocked by our pace.”
Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Russia’s “production of certain types of military equipment has increased tenfold, and it continues to grow several times over, yearly,” according to the CEO.
Over the course of last year, production of light armored vehicles and tanks more than doubled, and the production of ammunition for multiple launch rocket systems increased by 70%, he said.
Earlier this year, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that “it’s simply unthinkable” that Russia “should be able to outproduce and outgun” the US-led military bloc. Under US pressure, European NATO states pledged in June to increase their defense spending to 5% of their GDP.
The European Commission in recent months freed up €335 billion ($391 billion) in leftover Covid-19 relief funds for military spending, and moved to mobilize €150 billion ($175 billion) in loans and grants towards militarization. Some of the funds have been made available to Ukraine.
Moscow has long condemned Western military support for Ukraine as being part of a NATO proxy war against Russia.
Last week, Russian forces struck four major Ukrainian defense industrial facilities, causing what was described as “colossal” damage to Kiev’s domestic missile program. According to Russia’s Federal Security Service, the development work at the facilities targeted was being carried out with German financial support and the participation of foreign specialists.
