The Russian newspaper "Izvestia" confirmed that in light of the geopolitical tensions that followed the war on Ukraine, the Russian military-technical cooperation system witnessed an unprecedented crisis last year.
The newspaper quoted military expert Andrei Frolov as saying that the military operation in Ukraine and the subsequent Western sanctions against Moscow negatively affected the work of the Russian military-industrial complex and the Russian company responsible for managing arms exports from Russia, "ROSOBORONEXPORT".
The report stated that the crisis that the Russian military-technical cooperation system is going through is caused by a reduction in the volume of exports as a result of companies specialized in the military industry implementing the orders of the Ministry of Defense, noting that the types of weapons that are supposed to be shipped to importing countries between 2024 and 2025 will instead be delivered to the Russian forces in 2024. current.
The effect of sanctions
The newspaper added that the new package of sanctions affected the defense industry after it tightened the screws on the Russian military-industrial complex.
Although the countries that imposed sanctions on Russia stopped buying Russian weapons a long time ago, other countries such as Greece, Finland, Cyprus and Eastern European countries still own some Soviet- and Russian-style systems, and are markets for spare parts, maintenance and modernization services.
But since February 24, Russia has lost these markets.
Also, within the framework of the sanctions policy, Western countries have intensified their pressure on traditional Russian customers, and this pressure and the threat of secondary sanctions have reached a new level due to Russia's virtual separation from the international financial system, a factor that greatly complicated the usual payment system, and forced Russian exporters and customers to follow suit. Alternative plans, including payment using national currencies.
Also, the decision of "unfriendly" countries to close their airspace to Russian aircraft, with difficulties in maritime transport and how to secure it, posed a problem for the delivery of Russian weapons to customers.
Open horizons
The report stated that the Russian military operation in Ukraine revealed the strengths and weaknesses of Russian weapons, and the factors that manufacturers take into account and work to correct.
Accordingly, all samples of the new generation of weapons received the status of "tested in combat conditions", given that systems purchased by customers often only pass field tests.
According to the director of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugaev, the Ukraine war has doubled the interest of foreign partners in Russian weapons, as it made it possible to assess their effectiveness in the context of hostilities.
Shugaev adds that the latest Western weapons systems on the battlefield have shown much less effectiveness than they showed during tests, and the same applies to anti-tank weapons and air defense systems, including the mobile air defense system.
According to the newspaper, by the end of August of last year, Russia had signed new contracts for the export of arms worth about one trillion rubles.