How Russia Builds Superior Weapons Systems At A Fraction Of The Cost
The United States spends more on its military than any other country — by a long shot. The American Defense Budget, expected to top a trillion dollars in 2025, is currently seven times larger than Russia’s. When combined, two countries in Europe, the United Kingdom and Germany, exceed Russia’s military spending. And yet, despite its limited budget, Russia can produce more weapons and, by some measures, superior weapons than either the United States or NATO.
This point was driven home recently by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, as the UK Express reported:
“Russia only takes three months to produce the amount of weapons the EU does in a whole year.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1980278/russia-weapons-production-eu-warning-germany
Pistorius states what has become apparent over the thousand days of the Ukraine conflict: NATO, and most especially the United States, has been unable to supply Ukraine with an equivalent number of weapons and munitions as the Russians possess. On every front, Russia has out-shot the UAF. By some early estimates, Russian forces were lobbing 10 times the artillery shells versus Ukraine. Recently, Russian rockets and drones have decimated Ukraine’s Energy System, and for weeks now, Russia has had complete air supremacy.
However, another dimension to this conflict is even more disturbing: Russia seems to be establishing a technological advantage in its weapons. Last week, Russia attacked the PA Pivdenmash, a giant missile and rocket plant that has operated in Ukraine for over 70 years. I reported on this strike last week.
https://valueside.ghost.io/ghost/#/editor/post/67433e4d0ec0090001af1930
This missile exhibited at least two characteristics superior to Western Weapons Technology. First, the rocket was a hypersonic missile, something the West does not yet possess. Second, it was MIRVED; it had multiple reentry vehicles, with each MIRV containing multiple sub-munitions, each flying at an estimated MACH 10 or better. Each of those attributes, along with a sophisticated guidance system, presented something new and entirely unexpected to the battlefield.
So, the question naturally arises: how did Russia accomplish all this with a Defense Budget of just one-seventh of the United States?
As the War in Ukraine has dragged on, it has become increasingly evident that the answer to Russia’s War Machine lies not on the battlefield but in the production line. Something Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized last summer when he appointed Andrey Belousov to be the Minister of Defense.
This move surprised the world; only one or two analysts managed to guess what was happening. Belousov, you see, wasn’t a military person. He had not served in the military, nor did he have a reputation as a military strategist or researcher. What’s more, he replaced one of the most highly regarded and experienced military leaders in Russia, Sergei Shoigu. Shoigu has spent the last 12 years as Minister of Defense and is considered a personal friend of Vladimir Putin.
One analyst saw the most for what it was: an effort to streamline and enhance the Russian Military Manufacturing process. Jimmy Rushton, a securities analyst, tweeted:
“Shoigu’s replacement with a (relatively experienced and apparently competent) economist pretty clearly signals Putin believes victory in Ukraine will come via outproducing (and outlasting) Ukraine and her Western allies,” Jimmy Rushton, a Kyiv-based security analyst, said on X. “He’s preparing for many more years of war.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/ruble-bullet-vladimir-putin-put-economist-andrei-belousov-charge-military-sergei-shoigu/
Rushton saw what the rest of us missed: the Ukraine War would last. And now that we’ve just passed the thousand-day milestone, he looks prescient.
So, just how would we expect an economist like Belousov to manage the Russian Military Industrial Complex? While I have no contact with Russia’s upper echelons of policymakers, the simple deduction will lead us to some very startling conclusions.
After the Oreshnik struck Ukraine, Ukraine’s Intelligence Service, the SBU, recovered certain parts and equipment of the rockets. Most interesting, many of these parts were clearly identifiable by the SBU from earlier Russian Rockets, some dating as far back as 2021.
This has led many in the West to speculate that Russia mounted a new and innovative reentry vehicle (with its MIRV-ed payload) on top of the older rocket. This would be consistent with Russia’s tradition of utilizing older, proven technology to be modified into new uses. In the 1950s, Russia was the first country to invent the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (1957, the R-7 Semyorka). Russia then modified that same ICBM Rocket (the R-7) to launch the first satellite into space (Sputnik).
Today, several reports in the press downplay this Russian penchant for utilizing existing technology in new applications. In the United States, we prefer to create all-new weapons systems; thus, our latest fighter jets, for instance, are made on an entirely original platform. Thus, the fifth-generation F-35 American Fighter Jet has little in common with the fourth-generation F-16. The F-35 has an entirely new propulsion system, new electronics, new weapons, and, of course, is stealthy.
However, all this brand-new technology comes at a cost. Production lines at Lockheed Martin (the plane’s principal manufacturer) have run behind schedule, and maintenance on this all-new technology is steep, with a significant number of F-35s sidelines with mechanical and other issues. While the F-35 may be the best fighter aircraft in the world, it is well behind in its flight-ready status. And it may be years before the US Air Force receives the 1,100 F-35s they’ve requested.
On the other hand, Russia has demonstrated a workable Oreshnik that has been used in battle, admittedly using “old” technology (at least for the lift rocket).
It may be time for the United States to focus on manufacturing battle-ready armaments.
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