This involves around 1,300 companies with a total of two million employees. This corresponds to 2.7 percent of the Russian workforce.
At the same time, defense spending will account for almost 40 percent of the Russian state budget in 2024.
Satellite images reveal expansion
In some cases, it is possible to see an industrial build-up with the naked eye, as Radiofree Europe was the first to report. On satellite images, it is possible to see how several new industrial buildings have been completed.
- Some have been planned and underway for several years, while others seem to have just started. In some cases it seems to have been forced forward to be ready, says Tomas Malmlöf, researcher at the Total Defense Research Institute, FOI, and expert on Russian defense industry.
Big challenges
Despite a large budget and new buildings, the industry faces several challenges. One of them is lack of skills.
- Of the two million employees, they usually talk about a skills shortage of approximately 400,000 people. It's about researchers, engineers and qualified tool workers, says Tomas Malmlöf.
Western machines
According to Malmlöf, Russia's military research is underfunded compared to, for example, the United States and China. And on top of it all, they have for many years become dependent on Western machine tools.
- Because of the sanctions, these machines no longer receive the service or care they need, and this is a problem that will probably grow in the long term.
Addiction to war
Another disadvantage for the Russian companies is that they are often completely focused on military production. It can be compared with Western defense companies such as Boeing and Saab, which, in addition to weapons systems, had extensive civilian production.
- What happens then if the eternal peace breaks out? Then you are left with a large industrial plant and expensive production equipment without customers. This is what you want to avoid at all costs in all defense industries, says Tomas Malmlöf.